The Veteran's child, V., was determined to be a helpless child of the Veteran in 1979. The March 2007 divorce decree terminated his marriage and thus ended his entitlement to death benefits as a helpless child.
The deciding factor: The law disallows restoration of benefits for a helpless child who married and had their marriage recognized by a court, even if they were not living together or considered 'practically never' married.
- Claimed conditions
- helpless child
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 1, 2009
- Citation
- 0924709
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 0924709.
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.
- Dismissed
The Board has granted a dependency award for the Veteran's child, J.F., as a 'helpless child' and this decision is final.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that new and relevant evidence has been received to reconsider the claim of recognition of A.T. as the Veteran's helpless child, which was previously denied in August 2011. The case is being remanded for further action.
- Denied
The Board found that the overpayment of VA dependency benefits was valid due to the Veteran's continued acceptance of benefits for his son M.W. despite knowing he should not have been receiving them.
- Denied
The Board denied a request for an effective date prior to March 22, 2005 for DIC and death pension benefits as a helpless child of the Veteran. The claim was not filed before this date.
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