Parent dependency

[Leatherneck1775]

My parents were granted as my two dependents a few days ago. My question is about retroactive pay. I claimed my stepkid in March 2020 and since I had an increase in 12/19/19, I was able to get retroactive pay back dated to my EAS in 2014. Will it be the same for my parents being awarded as my dependents? Yes still waiting for the award letter in mail.

[broncovet]

Welcome to hadit!

Unfortunately, there is no "simple answer" that you seek, and you wont know until you get the award letter.  I do suggest you keep reading, however, because you may need to decide whether or not to appeal the effective date.  

Its gonna be all about the date the decision says, which you can appeal if you so choose.  

As always, however, the effective date is the later of the "facts found" (the date the VA determined your parents were dependent on you) or the "date of claim".  You should know these dates much better than we do.  

If your parents moved in with you, that date may well be the "facts found".  Or, if you sent them money for more than half  their support, when that first began may be used as "facts found".  

Of course, if a "doctor" determined your parents were dependent on you, then that could be "facts found".  

Lastly, if the IRS deemed your parents "dependent" on you, then that date  could likewise serve as "facts found".  

I have no idea when you first applied for them to be dependents.  (date of claim).  

If you had a recent decision awarding something "else" you probably have one year to "add your parents as dependents" to that claim, to make it effective on the date of that recent decision.  

In short, we wont know what the VA determined as the effective date until you get the letter.  Even then, the VA often gets the effective date wrong.  There are many, many appeals of the effective date.  This would include mine.  I had to appeal the effective date, at least twice.  I won both appeals..eventually, and got the effective date I thought I deserved.  But not without a fight.  

Hopefully the VA will get your effective date "right".  Incredibly, they do that sometimes, too!  It just never happened to me! 

There are exceptions to the general effective date rule I mentioned.  You can read them to see if any of these apply to you:

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/38/5110

As always, the effective date laws are complex and often disputed in court.  

Edited August 5, 2020 by broncovet (see edit history)

[Berta]

Leatherneck, that retro for dependent parents might depend on what your VA rating was in 2014.

Meaning were you deemed as 30% or more SC by VA from your EAS?

And did you support the parents since your EAS...?

This might help:

https://benefits.va.gov/COMPENSATION/docs/bas-dependency-factsheet-final-508.pdf

 

Edited August 8, 2020 by Berta (see edit history)

[iraqx2]

I am  happy your parents got dependency. I live with my parents and had recently filed for them as dependents but was denied. Va stated that the $1900 a month combine that they make is way too much. I don't have a problem with that. However, the problem is that VA stated that it was over the $660 threshold. What the heck? That low? Who gets social security and does not get over $660 combine. So this so mute to me. To be able to qualify, parents must absolutely collect no income what so ever it seems like.