How to get the extra benefit if your spouse is on AA

[armyvetmom3]

On the pay charts for Disability and Compensation it says that if you have more than a 30% disability than you are suppose to get an additional amount if your spouse is on Aid and Attendance.  I was rated at 90% with 100% unemployability from July 2010.  My husband was on aid and attendance from 1982 until he passed away in 2018.  I submitted a form that listed him as my dependant and that stated he was on AA and since his AA was from the VA they had the records to show that.  I called several times and the lady always said that I didn't get anything that only my husband got AA and I did not get anything extra.  I would like to know how I can get this corrected so that I can get the back pay that I am owed from July 2010 to the date of my husband's death on January 16, 2018.

[Berta]

Maybe someone here or yourself could access M21-1MR to find the exact M21 statement that supports the above VA web site info.

I cant do it due to weather conditions-

It took me 8 years to get my SMC CUE awarded-it never went to the BVA, because my RO cannot read.

It was awarded due to my Nehmer IHD claim by a different VARO -who could read.

I think maybe you might well consider Broncovet's advice because this sounds like an easy CUE, but it might take a lawyer to get it handled properly.

 

 

 

 

[broncovet]

The M21 (unless this has changed) requires "an adjutication" for SMC S, "whenever" a single 100 percent is awarded.  The idea here, is that the VA should deny the Veteran SMC S, "if" he does not have an additional combined 60 percent "seperate and distinct". 

     It sounds like VA "never adjuticated" your (inferred/informal claim for spousal A and A), so you will need to force the issue. 

1.  Send an IRIS email inquiring as the "status" of your spousal A and A claim made (date) mm-dd-yy. 

2.  Call the 1 800 number and do the same.  Its possible to get an informal claim going "on the 800 number"  provided that, they document your claim.  Ask them to email their documentation, when you call them and ask (again) for A and A for spouse.  Im pretty sure there is no "exact" form for A and a for spouse, and I am almost positive there was not one prior to 2015, when informal claims were allowed. 

3.  Consider filing a supplemental claim.

4.  Consider calling the white house hotline and ask them why it was not adjuticated when you applied back mm-dd-yy. 

 

[Berta]

Can you clarify your initial post-perhaps I misunderstood your question.

I thought your spouse already received a very high level of SMC.

I think you are trying to get the dependency allowance, because you too are a disabled veteran, rated over 30%.

The reason I brought up my SMC CUE was because of the word ' consideration' ...much as this statement on dependency from the VA:

"If you receive a combined disability rating of at least 30%, we’ll automatically consider your eligibility for additional compensation for your dependent. "

The VA did not "consider " your eligibility for additional compensation.

They did not consider, that in your case, it should have been "automatic."..per the VA's own case law and regulations.

They violated 38 CFR 4.6.

 

§ 4.6 Evaluation of evidence.

"The element of the weight to be accorded the character of the veteran's service is but one factor entering into the considerations of the rating boards in arriving at determinations of the evaluation of disability. Every element in any way affecting the probative value to be assigned to the evidence in each individual claim must be thoroughly and conscientiously studied by each member of the rating board in the light of the established policies of the Department of Veterans Affairs to the end that decisions will be equitable and just as contemplated by the requirements of the law."

https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/38/4.6

you said:

 "I was rated at 90% with 100% unemployability from July 2010.  My husband was on aid and attendance from 1982 until he passed away in 2018.  I submitted a form that listed him as my dependant and that stated he was on AA and since his AA was from the VA they had the records to show that. "

Do you have a copy of that form and/or did the VA ever acknowledge it in your past award?

Can you prove VA got the form?Do you have a copy of your C file?