The Veteran's step-son, F.B., was found to be permanently incapable of self-support prior to his 18th birthday due to intellectual disabilities and physical impairments. The Board granted recognition as a helpless child.
The deciding factor: F.B.'s disabilities rendered him unable to sustain employment and required constant care from the Veteran and his wife, meeting the definition of a helpless child for VA benefits.
- Claimed conditions
- Permanent incapacity for self-support, Intellectual disability, Cerebral palsy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 30, 2019
- Citation
- 19182172
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,874 · Granted: 33% (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 19182172.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's adult child, R.F., is not considered permanently incapable of self-support prior to turning 18 years old and thus does not meet the criteria for survivor benefits.
- Granted
The Veteran's child, T.C.Q., was found to be permanently incapable of self-support prior to attaining the age of 18 due to his disabilities. The Board granted recognition as a helpless child.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's adult child, L.B., is seeking DIC benefits based on her permanent incapacity for self-support prior to reaching the age of 18. The AOJ did not obtain all relevant Social Security Administration (SSA) records in making its decision.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, MDD, ADHD, OCD, intellectual disability, and narcissistic personality disorder, as the evidence did not support a finding of in-service incurrence or aggravation.
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