The Veteran's death was not service-connected, so the appellant is only eligible for $2,000 in burial benefits. She cannot receive additional transportation expenses as her husband was buried at a private cemetery.
The deciding factor: The Veteran died from non-service-connected causes and therefore did not qualify for service-connected burial benefits which would have allowed for reimbursement of transportation expenses.
- Claimed conditions
- Non-service-connected death
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- January 29, 2019
- Citation
- 19106535
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,196 · Granted: 17% (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 19106535.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was not service-connected, and the Appellant is denied additional nonservice-connected burial benefits and reimbursement for transportation expenses.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has ordered additional development of the appellant's countable income, including after August 1, 2004, when one of her children turned 18 years old. The case will be remanded for further adjudication.
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