Gaijin J

Semper Fi Brother!  Gaijin J, Im glad it is working out for you and that you are now considered competent and getting your retro.   I hope you stick around and continue to learn and pass on what you have learned!
I do find it funny, in a sad way, that the VA can in any way consider themselves an authority on competence or incompetence.  Considering the fact they look at veterans records and if they are late on bills, etc they can determine you incompetent.  The VA makes promises they never keep, Say they have done things that are never done, lie, cheat and steal and on top of that dont pay their bills and prone to angry outbursts.  If they were a claims case they would be found incompetent themselves for severe narcissistic personality disorder with periods of angry outbursts and inability to manage their own finances.

Congratulations.   It just indicates more funny stuff at VA is going on.  They send your money to a 'fiduciary' which means no one, but they keep it.  I hope some VA heads roll on this.  

I am talking out my butt a bit...however if it were me and barring any future better answers (which i am sure will come).
I would write a letter to the Director of the Regional Office that is handling your claims.  Make sure to copy it and send the copy and send it certified mail with return receipt so there is proof you sent it (and what date you sent it) and that they got it (and what date they got it).
I would compile all your evidence and dates relating to this such as...
1) decision later and date they proposed you were incompetent
2) decision letter and date they decided you were competent.
3) copy of the hot line if possible, if not the date you called them.
I would basically write.
Dear Mr. ______,
I am writing this letter today to request that the payments held in fiduciary trust during my determination of competency be released to me immediately.   It was on (DATE) that the VA originally informed me of a determination as to my competency to handle my own financial affairs; it was from this date until (DATE), 18 months later that I was found competent.  During this time my entitlement of (%) was held in fiduciary trust with the VA and has, as of (todays date) not been released to myself.  As can be expected, during the time my entitlement was withheld by the VA in trust I was unable to pay most if not any of my bills, many of which are become very late and continuing to accrue interest and penalties.  Due to this I called the VA Hotline (list number) on (Date) and inquired as to when these funds would be released.  i was informed it would take between "10-45 days".  As of todays date, (date), this is now the 97th day since i called the hotline and the (days since decision)th day since the decision letter regarding my being competent to handle my own financial affairs was received by myself.  Due to financial strains that were incurred during this time i request that these funds be released
 

I would think in your case, a call or E-mail to Allison Hickey is in order.

that might be a good call.  given the NEED to get this done, and the failure to do it on time probably would warrant an email to her so she can kick the RO in the butt

This seems like the exact type of situation in which an email to Undersecretary Allison Hickey is appropriate and likely to get a result. Send an email to allison.hickey@va.gov explaining exactly what you have said here. You will probably get a response from someone in here office within a week. Please let us know how this turns out.

I think that you will hear from them soon. Do you have a U.S. phone number in Japan? Did you include a phone number in your email? Not everyone gets a response, but those who do usually get a phone call from someone in her office 5-10 days after emailing her.

I dont have a good feeling about your outcome.  I hear VA saying, "Gee, we paid your fiduciary, so collect whatever is left over, if anything, from him.  YOur beef is with your fiduciary, not us".  
As far as I know, its not VA policy to withold compensation to Vets pending the outcome of a fiduciary decison, so it was likely paid to your fiduciary, and you will have to sue him or her to get it back.  

He appealed the incompetency BS, so why would he even have had any fiduciary?
Blue vet asked: "Do you have a U.S. phone number in Japan?"
 
The VA might be more receptive to contacting you through the state department in Japan,if you dont have a US phone number......did they help with your claim under the Foreign Medical Services Program?

Berta, 
   I dont know if he had a fiduciary or not, but the VA wastes no time in getting one if one is delcared incompetent.  I guess the poster could respond, but I assumed VA declared him incompetent, appointed a fiduciary, and he got it overturned on appeal.  
   VA seems to work at lightning speed when it suits them, especially to reduce our benefits.  

Broncovet, you certainly might be correct....I just thought, that after the Fiduciary scandal at VA a few years ago- the one whereby they had picked some felons as fiduciaries for veterans, that they had changed the Fiduciary process.
http://www.va.gov/vetapp12/Files3/1217344.txt
In part:
"Overall, the lay and medical evidence fails to show that the Veteran is not competent to manage her own funds without limitation. There is agreement that the Veteran can manage a monthly benefit check, but disagreement as to whether she can manage the large retroactive award. The Board acknowledges these "potential" concerns but, to this point, the Veteran has not demonstrated an inability to manage her finances. The severity of the Veteran's judgment deficit does not establish her incompetency at this time. Simply stated, the medical evidence is not clear, convincing, and/or indubitable that the Veteran is incompetent. 38 C.F.R. § 3.353(c). As such, the appeal is granted. Finally, the Board notes that the full benefits sought on appeal have been granted. Accordingly, assuming, without deciding, that any error was committed with respect to either the duty to notify, the duty to assist or the due process provisions of 38 C.F.R. § 3.353(e) , such error was harmless and need not be further considered. " Since this decision suggests there was a large retro award due to her, I guess I assume the VA still held onto that cash,because she fought the proposed incompetency BS. You are right that we dont know whether a fiduciary was appointed ,or not, here...... ORDER The appeal is granted. The Veteran is deemed competent to manage her own funds without limitation.  
 

If you dont pick a fiduciary, the VA picks one for you, BUT, you certainly should have received a letter.  Here may be the way to find out:
Check your ebenefits account, and "payments".  YOu probably will need a premium ebenefits account to do this.  

"I think it is kind of funny that they were trying to propose me as incompetent based on the answer to one question and the whole time I was just wishing there was really someone "competent" at the V.A whom could or would be willing to help me... But that may be too much to ask."
LOL and you are RIGHT!
Yeah this is a trick question in my opinion.....wives of vets  have, in most cases always handled the money end of the marriage.And in civilian marriages too.
They have used this bull crap time and time again against veterans, as one more way to stave off paying them their rightful benefits.
In some cases it is in the best interest of the veteran to have a fiduciary but those situations are really few and far between.

On ebenefits, Check the "payments" not just for this month, but for each month the past year or two, since it shows a history.    Does it still show it was paid a year ago?  If so, then your money likely went to a fiduciary, and you never saw it.  

If I were you I would file a complaint through the OIG. You have a large amount of money due you that is unaccounted for. Here's the OIG website: http://www.va.gov/oig/  Click on the hotline button. Explain that the money is missing and that the VA has told you that they do not know who to contact. Also state that you have no other avenue of redress, since nobody at the VA is responding to you.

Great News Gaijin! Congrats!!

Welcome to the board Gaijin!

Welcome to Hadit!
I spent a week in Okinawa back when I was in high school when my father was stationed in Korea. Very beautiful place! Glad to know there is someone looking out for veterans in Japan!

Furthermore, you can visit this site http://www.veteranscrisisline.net/ if you want to chat with them online to receive confidential support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. :)