The veteran's death was not due to his own willful misconduct, and he had service-connected disability rated as totally disabling for a continuous period of at least one year immediately preceding his death. However, the appellant is not eligible for DIC benefits under section 1318 because the veteran did not have entitlement to compensation for a total rating for ten years prior to his death.
The deciding factor: The veteran was rated as totally disabled by VA but was not receiving compensation due to clear and unmistakable error in a previous decision. He had not been entitled to receive such compensation at the time of his death, thus failing the requirement of section 1318(b).
- Claimed conditions
- Anxiety with depression, Scar of the scapular area, Old fracture of the left hip
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 19, 2004
- Citation
- 0410130
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,555 · Granted: 19% (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 0410130.
What this means for you
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- Denied
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