Va.gov Disability Claim Status

With A Dependent Spouse Or Parent But No Children

Compensation rates for 30% to 60% disability rating

Find the dependent status in the left column that best describes you. Then look for your disability rating in the top row. Your basic monthly rate is where your dependent status and disability rating meet.

If your spouse receives Aid and Attendance benefits, be sure to also look at the Added amounts table, and add it to your amount from the Basic monthly rates table.

Compensation rates for 70% to 100% disability rating

How Do I Add A Dependent To My Benefits

To file a claim for additional disability compensation for a child or spouse

You can file a claim for additional compensation for a child or spouse online.

Note: You may need to provide more information or forms along with your claim.

Were sorry. Something went wrong when we tried to load your saved application.

If youre claiming your child who became permanently disabled before they turned 18, youll need to turn in all private medical records relating to the childs disabilities with your application.

If your dependent is a child whos between 18 and 23 years old and attending school full time, youll also need to submit a Request for Approval of School Attendance with your application.

To file a claim for additional disability compensation for a dependent parent

Youll need to fill out and submit a Statement of Dependency of Parent by mail.

Please send all correspondence related to compensation claims to this address:

Department of Veterans AffairsJanesville, WI 53547-4444

What Can I See Once I Sign In

Youll see your VA combined disability rating and a list of your individual disability ratings. Youll also be able to see which of your individual disability ratings are service-connected. Service-connected disabilities are injuries or illnesses that were causedor made worseby your active-duty military service.

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What Evidence Will I Need To Provide To Support My Claim

You can help to support your VA disability claim by providing documents such as:

• VA medical records and hospital records that relate to your claimed illnesses or injuries or that show your rated disability has gotten worse
• Private medical records and hospital reports that relate to your claimed illnesses or injuries or that show your disability has gotten worse
• Supporting statements youd like to provide from family members, friends, clergy members, law enforcement personnel, or those you served with that can tell us more about your claimed condition and how and when it happened or how it got worse

Depending on the type of claim you file, you may gather supporting documents yourself, or you can ask for our help to gather evidence.

Well also review your discharge papers and service treatment records.

Please note: You dont have to submit any evidence to support your claim, but we may need to schedule a claim exam so we can learn more about your condition.

You should also know that you have up to a year from the date we receive your claim to turn in any evidence. If you start your application and need time to gather more supporting documents, you can save your application and come back later to finish it. Well recognize the date you started your application as your date of claim as long as you complete it within 365 days.

How Do Ratings Work For A Disability I Had Before Entering The Service That Got Worse Because Of My Service

If you get disability benefits for a preservice disability, we base your monthly compensation amount on the level of aggravation. Level of aggravation means how much worse your preservice disability got because of your military service.

For example: If you had an illness or injury that was rated as 10% disabling when you entered the military, and it became 20% disabling due to the effects of your service, then the level of aggravation would be 10%.

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Questions About The Process And Timing For Adding A Dependent

Yes, but we encourage you to file online. The online process is simple, and you can upload your supporting documents along with your claim.

When you file your claim online, we recognize the day you start the online claim process as the date VA received your claim. This means that if we decide youre eligible for additional disability compensation, well pay you back to this date.

If you cant, or dont want to file online, you can file a claim for additional disability compensation by mail using these forms:

• For a spouse or a child under 18 years of age, youll need to fill out an Application Request to Add and/or Remove Dependents .

PO Box 4444Janesville, WI 53547-4444

You can file your claim again online for a faster decision. If we award you additional disability compensation, well give you back pay from the original date we received your paper form.

We may pay you back to the date of your marriage or the birth or adoption of your child if you meet all of these requirements.

All of these must be true:

• You had already received a combined disability rating of at least 30% at the time of the marriage, birth, or adoption, and
• You file your claim for additional disability compensation for the dependent within a year of the marriage, birth, or adoption, and
• You respond within a year to our request for any more information or evidence needed to confirm your claim

Well begin paying you within 2 weeks after we approve your claim.

What To Do If Your Claim Is Denied

It is common for the VA to deny an initial disability claim. Some types of denials, including denials of VA pensions or a request for an increased disability rating, may require you to file a new claim in order to change the resolution. In other cases, filing an appeal can help reverse the VAs decision. If you intend to file an appeal, you must file a Notice of Disagreement within one year of the date of your claim denial. You may also have the right to request that a senior rating specialist review your case, which may help change the outcome of your disability claim.

If you have had your VA disability claim denied, start by contacting a VA disability lawyer. A VA accredited attorney can help review your claim, determine why it may have been denied, and increase the odds that your claim will be approved the second time, whether that means collecting additional evidence on your behalf or including more critical information as part of your claim.

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Am I Eligible For Va Disability Compensation

You may be eligible for VA disability benefits or compensation if you meet both of these requirements.

Both of these must be true:

• You have a current illness or injury that affects your mind or body, and
• You served on active duty, active duty for training, or inactive duty training

And at least one of these must be true:

• You got sick or injured while serving in the militaryand can link this condition to your illness or injury , or
• You had an illness or injury before you joined the militaryand serving made it worse , or
• You have a disability related to your active-duty service that didnt appear until after you ended your service

Vetsgov Adds Disability Compensation Claim Status Feature

Theres a common misperception that VA-and-DoDs eBenefits web portal is singularly synonymous with checking your claim. Although claim status is one of several dozen features on eBenefits, its also one whose implementation many Vets felt could be improved.

Enter vets.gov, the VA transaction-based website. Yes, you will now be able to track the progress of your disability compensation claim online at Vets.gov.

Lets back up, though, to address on question: Why?

What I mean to say is that weve heard you. That weve taken your suggestions to improve the claim status tracker. And since its one of our most-popular features, weve brought itnew and improved!to the Vets.gov experience.

The claim status tracker is now simpler to use, easier to read, more responsive, 508 compliant, and best of allits designed for mobile. These are the suggestions youand other Veterans just like youhave told us in interviews, focus groups, surveys, testing and other feedback that weve received.

After you create a Vets.gov account, give it a whirl. We believe youll find it easier to understand. Look for clearer language, a cleaner and less-distracting design, an easy-to-navigate interface, and less-confusing steps in the timeline. Where there used to be eight steps in the claim process, there are now only five:

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What Does It Cost To Use An Accredited Representative Or A Vso

In general, no individual or organization may charge you a fee to help you file your initial application for benefits. But they may charge you for unusual expenses. Its only after weve made a decision about your original claim that VA-accredited claims agents and attorneys may charge for their services. Make sure you ask up front what, if any, fees youll be charged. If you believe a claims agent or attorney charged a fee thats too high, you can challenge it.

Federal And State Records

You could include copies of federal and state records, such as:

• Your military medical records
• Your military personnel records
• Any Social Security Administration or other federal or state medical treatment records
• Any treatment or personnel records from your National Guard or Reserve unit that support your claim

If you dont have copies of these records, you can ask us to request them for you as part of the claim process.

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Should I Submit An Intent To File Form

If you plan to file for disability compensation using a paper form, you may want to submit an intent to file form first. This can give you the time you need to gather your evidence while avoiding a later potential start date . When you notify us of your intent to file, you may be able to get retroactive payments .

Note: You dont need to notify us of your intent to file if you file for disability compensation online. This is because your effective date gets set automatically when you start filling out your disability compensation form onlinebefore you submit it.

Vba Quality Assurance Sampling Methodology

During fiscal year 2015, VBA revised its quality assurance program to reflect industry-standard best practices in statistical sampling and estimation. VBAs quality assurance program is designed to provide quality estimates within a 5% margin of error with a 95% confidence level for every 12 months of reviews. For more information on VBAs quality assurance program and claim sampling methodology, please read: VBA accuracy sampling methodology.

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A Lawyer Can Help You Choose The Right Way To Appeal Your Claim

You may have multiple options for appealing your claim, from requesting a senior rating specialist for your case to filing a supplemental claim that may help provide more evidence about the extent of your disability. The right option for your needs may depend on why your claim was denied in the first place as well as what evidence you have already presented. A lawyer can help you determine the right choice for your needs.

What Does It Take To Be An Accredited Representative Or A Vso

Accredited representatives and VSOs need to:

• Pass a background check
• Take continuing-education courses to make sure theyre providing the most up-to-date information

Recognized organizations and individuals can legally represent a Veteran, service member, dependent, or survivor before VA. Non-recognized organizations and individuals can provide information, but cant be representatives.

Note: Veterans Service Officers work for Veterans Service Organizations , as well as for local government offices.

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Board Of Veterans Appeals

What happens during a Board Hearing?

On July 28, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Board of Veterans Appeals by Executive Order 6230, Veterans Regulation No. 2. The Board was delegated the authority to render the final decisions on appeal for the Administrator and was directly responsible to the Administrator . The Board was charged to provide every possible assistance to claimants and to take final action that would be fair to the Veteran as well as the Government. The Board continues to meet this charge.

The Board is comprised of a Chairman, Vice Chairman, and such number of Veterans Law Judges and Board members as necessary to meet the Boards mission to conduct hearings and dispose of appeals properly before the Board in a timely manner. 38 U.S.C. § 7101. View the Board’s organizational chart.

The Board composition and procedures are governed by 38 U.S.C. §§ 7101-7112. The Board often receives questions regarding how appeals are worked at the Board. Under 38 U.S.C. § 7107 , all appeals at the Board shall be considered and decided in regular docket order according to its place on the docket. Docket is defined by the date of receipt of the appeal. So, appeals are processed in first in first out method. The only exceptions are those appeals that are advanced on the docket whether the appellant is age 75 or over or for which motion has been filed for serious illness severe financial hardship or for other sufficient cause shown.

Questions About Adding Or Removing Certain Kinds Of Dependents

If you and your spouse are both Veterans with a combined disability rating of at least 30%, you can both receive additional disability compensation for each other and for your children.

You should know: Itll take us longer to process your claim if your spouse is also a Veteran. But if you file your claim online, and we decide youre eligible for additional disability compensation for your dependent, well pay you back to the date you started the online claim process.

You can submit a request through eBenefits asking us to stop paying additional disability compensation for a spouse or child. Well need more time to process a request that involves a child than a request that involves a spouse, but the online process is still much faster than submitting a paper request.

If you get divorced, youll want to notify us right away. You dont need to send or upload supporting documents to eBenefits in this case.

This will help to make sure we dont continue paying you additional disability compensation for your former spouse and, if applicable, stepchildren after the divorce. If we continue paying you benefits that youre not eligible for, we may withhold money from future payments until youve paid us back.

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Am I Eligible To Use This Tool

You can view your disability ratings online if you got a decision notice from us in the mail confirming your disability rating.

Note: This tool doesnt include ratings for any disability claims that are still in process. You can check the status of pending claims with the claim status tool.

Special Monthly Compensation Rate Payment Variations

Effective December 1, 2022

Levels K and Q are special rates called SMC rate payment variations. We may add Level K to your basic SMC rate.

SMC-K and SMC-Q rates

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