The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for additional compensation benefits for a dependent child based on school attendance and concurrent receipt of DEA and disability benefits is denied as the Veteran was not entitled to such benefits before May 2016 due to his dependent child having already elected for DEA benefits.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's claim must be denied as a matter of law because he was not entitled to additional dependency benefits at the time of the grant in September 2016, given that his dependent child had already elected for DEA benefits before any claim for additional dependency benefits were submitted.
- Claimed conditions
- Dependent child
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- April 1, 2019
- Citation
- 19124320
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,050 · Granted: 23% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19124320.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's daughter and spouse were added as dependents after November 17, 2014. The Board denied the request for an earlier effective date.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an effective date prior to February 18, 2016 for the grant of additional compensation for a dependent child. The earliest possible date assignable for the award was the date of birth/adoption of the child, which is not before February 18, 2016.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran was not reasonably discharging his responsibility for supporting his dependent child V.W. during the relevant period, and a general apportionment of his VA compensation benefits in the amount he received for his dependent child is granted.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for additional benefits due to his daughter pursuing a course of instruction at an educational institution approved by VA lacks legal merit as the required claim was not filed within one year of her 18th birthday.
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