The Veteran's child is not eligible for Chapter 35 DEA benefits because she turned 26 years old before the effective date of her parent's permanent total disability rating, which is a requirement for eligibility.
The deciding factor: The appellant was over 26 years old at the time basic eligibility for Chapter 35 DEA benefits began, and thus cannot be considered eligible under the law.
- Claimed conditions
- permanent total service-connected disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 6, 2019
- Citation
- 19109499
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,757 · Granted: 23% (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 19109499.
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 appeal regarding earlier effective dates for TDIU and DEA benefits is dismissed as the AOJ's decision implementing the Board's grant of these benefits from June 29, 2011, is final.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's request for an earlier effective date for DEA benefits, finding that permanent and total disability was not established before March 9, 2020.
- Denied
The Veteran's effective date for DEA benefits is denied as he did not have a permanent and total service-connected disability prior to February 2, 2001.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for DEA benefits is denied as there is no other basis upon which he could have established eligibility prior to May 18, 2017.
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