The Board found that the veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for non-service-connected pension benefits was granted, and his reduction of non-service-connected pension benefits due to retroactive receipt of service-connected disability compensation was also determined to be proper.
The deciding factor: The Board concluded that the veteran became permanently and totally disabled on August 23, 1995, and established that a mental disability prevented him from filing a disability pension claim for at least the first 30 days immediately following his permanent and total disability.
- Claimed conditions
- Major Depression with Psychotic Features
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 19, 2003
- Citation
- 0305149
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,643 · Granted: 15% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0305149.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeal regarding the proposal to reduce the rating for PTSD and major depression with psychotic features from 100 percent to 70 percent.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for additional development due to missing correspondence and missed examination. The Veteran will be asked again to submit information corroborating a sexual or personal assault during service, and he will be scheduled for a VA psychiatric examination.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for major depression with psychotic features was reopened and granted effective September 10, 1980.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claim for an earlier effective date of February 21, 2003 for a 30 percent evaluation for his service-connected major depression with psychotic features. The decision found that there was no evidence of a factually ascertainable increase in disability prior to February 21, 2003.
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