The appellant is not eligible for VA death benefits beyond age 23 as her father had a dishonorable discharge and she was over the age of 23 at the time of her claim.
The deciding factor: The appellant's father received a dishonorable discharge due to prolonged absence without official leave (AWOL) which precludes recognition as a veteran for purposes of VA benefits, and she is now more than 50 years old with no evidence of being permanently incapable of self-support before age 18.
- Claimed conditions
- Not specified in this decision
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 28, 2005
- Citation
- 0502171
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,582 · Granted: 32% (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 0502171.
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