Need Some Help From Chapter 35 Experts

[vaf]

Our daughter is currently receiving her Chapter 35 educational benefits, effective August 2006. We're having a problem collecting retro, here's the timeline. Could you tell me if she is eligible for what we've requested?

August 2004: VA counselor at college mistakenly submits daughter for educational benefits for summer school under Chapter 35, when it should have been for the local state VA tuition waiver benefit accorded dependents of veterans rated 90% and greater disabled. We were unaware at the time that this had happened.

September 2004: Daughter denied benefits because veteran father is not rated 100% disabled, P & T. We agree and did not appeal it, since the veteran was still rated 90%, not 100% P & T.

August 2006: Appeals Management Center declares that veteran father is 100% schedular disabled, P & T, retro'd to August 2003. Dependents eligible for Chapter 35 educational benefits.

August 2006: Daughter enrolls in Chapter 35, benefits to cover beginning of current school year (August 2006).

December 2006: Daughter receives correspondence from VA regarding whether she wanted to retro benefits. She requests retro benefits to August 2005, which leaves the period August 2005 - July 2006 for which she seeks retro benefits. She's basing this on the one-year period prior to August 2006.

February 2007: VA states that dependent is not eligible for retro payment for August 2005 - July 2006, because that exceeds the one year limit for retro. We don't understand that.

What, if any, impact does the August 2004 application for Chapter 35 benefits that was denied have on this situation? Correctly, our daughter was denied benefits in 2004 because the veteran wasn't rated 100% P&T at the time. Then, the AMC awarded the veteran 100% P&T to August 2003, which would have made her eligible for Chapter 35 at the time had it been awarded at the same time it was effective, instead of retroactively.

[Berta]

Vicki- as you are finding out- the VA Educational Department is sometimes an OXymoron!

They not only buggered my Chap 35 right from the git go but my daughter's too- but they immediately reserved their error when they got our NOd -3 weeks to reverse in both cases.

In both cases they did not apply the regs correctly so we had to send them the regs too and tell them how to do it right.

"February 2007: VA states that dependent is not eligible for retro payment for August 2005 - July 2006, because that exceeds the one year limit for retro. We don't understand that."

Neither do I- that is ridiculous- I know of no limit to retro under Chap 35-then again I will check the regs but it seems bizarre-

I dont get it- when the VA read my app and finally squared me away at school-they sent me a letter suggesting that I apply for retro-

but I had half a degree from the 1980s prior to even marrying my husband-so I didnt even reply because that didnt make sense at all-

Did you daughter send them proof of college attendance and proof of tuition paid for the time frame in question?

I need to check regs and get back to you-

I get Chapter 35 based on a date of death of my husband and since the limit is up- I pay for the tuition myself. It is very expensive.

I Nodded the decision when they stopped my Chap 35 as my new claim might give me a better limiting date-

widows Chap 35 is different from others so- I am saying this decision is wrong- but maybe it is right ???

I just found this BVA decision-

http://www.va.gov/vetapp99/files3/9925905.txt

Maybe this is where they are getting the one year limit on retro from-

but still this does not seem to be right-it looks like they say she exceeds the one year- but so then -where is the money for the actual year?

As long as she paid tuition at a VA approved school during that year- I believe they owe her that retro-

Is that your take on this too?

Edited February 15, 2007 by Berta

[Pete53]

Vicki:

I think that if you Appeal it you will be pleasantly surprised. Most of the Appeals at Chapter 35 take less than a month and they are very generous compared to the misers at VARO and BVA.

Good Luck.

Your appeal should have a letter signed by your husband and you stating the facts that you presented in your post.

[Berta]

Pete- there is something about Chap 35 that really bothers me.

I am an honor student with a very high GPA- still in spite of that- the regs for Chap 35 are very difficult for me to understand.

Apparently even the Chap 35 raters dont even understand them.

They do work a lot faster than the reg claims department-

But I still am angry how they failed to consider my daughter's 7 years military service when they gave her one Month of Chap 35 when she was about to turn 26-they had her DD 214 and the application clearly stated she was eligible for extention for the 7 years of her military service.She filled all that part out correctly.

She had the highest SATs scores in the school before she went into the mil-

and when she took the intell tests a Marine at Buffalo VA test center asked her to try to join the Corps instead of the USAF-because her scores were so high-

she was already in the AF-he was just complimenting her I think-so -my point is-she sure can read- but

My point here really is- something she said when she got the VA erroneous one month award.(After she got done cursing about it and mommy promised to fix it)

She said that the letter looked so official and seemed to be so well worded that she believed most vets would possibly accept this type of BS because it "looks" correct and after all it is a statement on eligibility from a US cabinet branch-

This all gave me a chance to officially welcome my daughter to my world- the Veterans Administration-and to tell her that as official as it all looks their decision was totally incorrect and no vet should ever buy what they are selling if it doesnt seem right.

We here are all intelligent people-I dont know any dumb vets-

but the VA has a way of stating decisions that appear "correct" and official when the reality is they aren't.

Chap 35 regs and many other regs are difficult to interpret sometimes.I find myself often re-reading regs over and over again. I even missed stuff in past SOCs that caught my attention only because I kept reading them.

The intelligence of all of you here is astounding to me yet I bet many others might find a big lack of clarity in some of VA's statements and regs too.

And if they dont even read and comprehend their own regs- like in my daughter's case-they can deny what should be awarded.

I wonder how many Chap 35 vets got the same BS and the VA failed to extend their eligibility by the length of their service.and they maybe never questioned it.

My kid has GI Bill too and I had to help one of her friends comprehend that- the VA web site is just voo doo talk-on the GI Bill- there are much better online explanations of the GI Bill from vets who have used it.

[Philip Rogers]

Our daughter is currently receiving her Chapter 35 educational benefits, effective August 2006. We're having a problem collecting retro, here's the timeline. Could you tell me if she is eligible for what we've requested?

August 2004: VA counselor at college mistakenly submits daughter for educational benefits for summer school under Chapter 35, when it should have been for the local state VA tuition waiver benefit accorded dependents of veterans rated 90% and greater disabled. We were unaware at the time that this had happened.

September 2004: Daughter denied benefits because veteran father is not rated 100% disabled, P & T. We agree and did not appeal it, since the veteran was still rated 90%, not 100% P & T.

August 2006: Appeals Management Center declares that veteran father is 100% schedular disabled, P & T, retro'd to August 2003. Dependents eligible for Chapter 35 educational benefits.

August 2006: Daughter enrolls in Chapter 35, benefits to cover beginning of current school year (August 2006).

December 2006: Daughter receives correspondence from VA regarding whether she wanted to retro benefits. She requests retro benefits to August 2005, which leaves the period August 2005 - July 2006 for which she seeks retro benefits. She's basing this on the one-year period prior to August 2006.

February 2007: VA states that dependent is not eligible for retro payment for August 2005 - July 2006, because that exceeds the one year limit for retro. We don't understand that.

What, if any, impact does the August 2004 application for Chapter 35 benefits that was denied have on this situation? Correctly, our daughter was denied benefits in 2004 because the veteran wasn't rated 100% P&T at the time. Then, the AMC awarded the veteran 100% P&T to August 2003, which would have made her eligible for Chapter 35 at the time had it been awarded at the same time it was effective, instead of retroactively.

Technically, she gets to pick the retro date, which I believe would be the date of the decision by the AMC or the date retro'd to in 8/03. I don't think she can pick any date in between, like 8/05, although I may be wrong. The regs are found in 38 CFR part 21.

pr

Edited February 15, 2007 by Philip Rogers

[sixthscents]

Yeah she should get to pick, but the VA is SUPPOSED to pick the one MOST ADVANTAGEOUS to the claimaint unless, and until they do....

My wife went thru this as well, and they wouldnt let me talk to the person who handled these claims, just the same idiotic reps in Atlanta...for over two weeks... well I'm retired, and they made a mistake in telling me the ladies name who actually handles the claims before telling me I couldnt talk to her... so I started dialing extensions...

Hours later ... after randomly dialing extension numbers... I finally convinced someone that I was calling from the VAMC next door and just needed to drop her a quick hello... and guess what.. she answered on the first ring.. handled the problem in like a minute then asked who told me her number... I said I got it from the directory... which... in a way I did, since the person who gave me it looked it up...

Needless to say when I get pissed I turn stubborn... "I cant tell you that" my rump!

[Pete53]

Actually part of the process is picking which date or an election of sorts.