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Denied

The Veteran's son, who is over 23 years old and not permanently incapable of self-support before age 18, was denied accrued benefits as he did not provide evidence that he paid the expense of his father's last sickness and burial.

The deciding factor: The appellant is not a child for VA purposes due to being older than 23 years old, and thus ineligible for accrued benefits under the law.

Claimed conditions
Not specified in this decision
How they argued it
Not specified
Exposure basis
None
Rating assigned
None in this decision
Decision date
May 16, 2019
Citation
19137636

Veterans Law Judge

MICHAEL LANE

Decisions by this judge: 2,272 · Granted: 31% (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 19137636.

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