Freeman V Shinseki Won

[Berta]

Freeman V Shinseki (10-1462)

In part states:

"The Secretary opposes the petition on the grounds that the determination of whom to

appoint as fiduciary to manage the petitioner's VA benefits is a matter within the sole discretion of

the Secretary and outside the jurisdiction of this Court or any Court. For the reasons that follow, the

Court grants the petitioner's request for extraordinary relief and will issue a writ of mandamus."

and

"Regardless of what the Secretary decides to do, it would benefit the system for VA to

explicitly address the relationships that are recognized elsewhere, thereby saving the veteran up to

4% of his or her benefits that is customarily charged by the VA-appointed fiduciary. In general,

veterans will be better served if their funds– regardless of the source– are managed by a single

individual who can manage them intelligently based upon a real familiarity with the veteran's

situation and needs."

Jim Strickland (VAWatchdog) kindly gave me a heads up on this early this AM and full story is at VAWatchdog Today.

I will read it all and add more here later.

This is a BIGGY. The VA has had TOO much control over fiduciary matters.

And they accepted NO responsibility at all when VA- appointed fiduciarys could not account for the veteran's compensation properly 8in many cases.

This is a victory for incompetent veterans and any vet could someday find themselves in a situation whereby they cannot control their own compensation funds.

http://www.vawatchdogtoday.org/uploads/Freeman_CAVC_Dec_4-26-11.pdf

[fanaticbooks]

Thanks Berta.

I posted on VBN so they could see this also.

fanaticbooks

[Sidney56]

Great information Berta, as always.

I'm in this quagmire as of now. Well, I don't have a decision as

of yet, who will be my fiduciary. Incompetency has been proposed

in my case. I did send a 4138 stating that I was capable of handling

my own affairs, but if a fiduciary was deemed necessary, to appoint

my wife of 18+ years as my fiduciary.

What bearing will this have on pending fiduciary cases? I have not read all the

Freeman case decision file yet and will probably not be able to decipher

it if I do

Thanks Berta....I hope this is something that I can use in my case.

[Berta]

."I hope this is something that I can use in my case"

Yes it could be but I think this decision has altered the entire VA Fiduciary mess and you might have no problems.

Or, at least if they say you do need a fiduciary, they should chose your wife with no problem.

I have not had time to decifer it all yet myself.

This has been the main issue Jim Strickland at VA Watchdog has been fighting over for at least 2 years now. He was getting horror stories in emails from incompetent vets and he exposed some of the things the VA had done to violate their rights.

I dont get it. had to be fingerprinted and run through the FBI for a few jobs I held and even for my daughter's Top Secret clearance and even for when I was a vet center volunteer.

Yet the VA had appointed a known felon in one fiduciary case and I bet the vet will never recover the thousands he lost due to the felon's mismanagement of his comp.

The VA fiduciary system lacked any accountability whatsoever.

Freeman has changed that!

As Jim emailed to me this AM:

"The veterans and families who have been abused by the bullying tactics

at VA are the weakest and most vulnerable of our ranks. The fiduciary

scam perpetrated by VA has ruined countless lives and damaged way too

many veterans who have been helpless to defend themselves.

This is the end of that particular era."

He is going to publish a How To Guide for any vet with any fiduciary problems and I will post the link to it here.

I recall saying here many years ago that a VA declaration of incompetency does NOT mean some distant relative can come in and take your stuff as it is just for VA purposes.

I had no idea that VA had already messed this program up so much that they harmed -as Jim said- the most vulnerable veterans and this is a DISGRACE.

[Sidney56]

."I hope this is something that I can use in my case"

Yes it could be but I think this decision has altered the entire VA Fiduciary mess and you might have no problems.

Or, at least if they say you do need a fiduciary, they should chose your wife with no problem.

I have not had time to decifer it all yet myself.

This has been the main issue Jim Strickland at VA Watchdog has been fighting over for at least 2 years now. He was getting horror stories in emails from incompetent vets and he exposed some of the things the VA had done to violate their rights.

I dont get it. had to be fingerprinted and run through the FBI for a few jobs I held and even for my daughter's Top Secret clearance and even for when I was a vet center volunteer.

Yet the VA had appointed a known felon in one fiduciary case and I bet the vet will never recover the thousands he lost due to the felon's mismanagement of his comp.

The VA fiduciary system lacked any accountability whatsoever.

Freeman has changed that!

As Jim emailed to me this AM:

"The veterans and families who have been abused by the bullying tactics

at VA are the weakest and most vulnerable of our ranks. The fiduciary

scam perpetrated by VA has ruined countless lives and damaged way too

many veterans who have been helpless to defend themselves.

This is the end of that particular era."

He is going to publish a How To Guide for any vet with any fiduciary problems and I will post the link to it here.

I recall saying here many years ago that a VA declaration of incompetency does NOT mean some distant relative can come in and take your stuff as it is just for VA purposes.

I had no idea that VA had already messed this program up so much that they harmed -as Jim said- the most vulnerable veterans and this is a DISGRACE.

Berta, I must say that you are a God send to all of us Vets!!

This information is so valuable to us vets that are going through this mess that the VA has

involved us in, without any repercussions. Now maybe things will change. How long it will take

the VA to recognize their failure and implement the changes, is anyone's guess.

Do you suggest that I wait to see what their decision is, or send a form 4138 citing the

Freeman vs Shinseki case?

I am so elated to hear this news that I could do a happy dance, if I had the strength

[Berta]

Maybe it is best to wait for the decision but I am not sure and hope others chime in here.

[Berta]

WOW-I spoke too soon-

the How To guide to challenge any attempt by VA to appoint a fiduciary not of one's choice will be at VAWatchdogToday by noon EST.