The Board has reopened the appellant's claim of service connection for the cause of her husband's death, but denied DIC benefits under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1318 due to lack of entitlement at the time of his death.
The deciding factor: The veteran was not in receipt of or entitled to receive compensation at the rate of 100 percent (total rating) due to a service-connected disability for a period of ten or more years immediately preceding death.
- Claimed conditions
- Atherosclerotic heart disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 7, 2005
- Citation
- 0500504
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 0500504.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board grants the Veteran's appeal for an earlier effective date of January 25, 2022, for the award of service connection for heart disabilities based on direct service connection.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, which was due to atherosclerotic heart disease.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for further development and readjudication by the AOJ.
- Denied
The Board found that the veteran's death was not related to any service-connected disabilities, and denied entitlement to dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC) benefits.
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