The Veteran's death was not due to service or a service-connected disability. The appeal for accrued benefits is denied as the claim was not filed within one year of his death, and there were no pending claims at the time of his death. The appeal for death pension benefits is remanded as the appellant needs to provide additional evidence such as police reports and court transcripts related to her husband's death.
The deciding factor: The Veteran died from a gunshot wound but there was no evidence linking this cause of death to service or a service-connected disability.
- Claimed conditions
- Gunshot wound
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 18, 2019
- Citation
- 19147548
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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