The Board denied the Veteran's claim for Special Monthly Compensation (SMC) based on the need for aid and attendance due to service-connected disabilities, as there is no evidence that he requires regular aid and assistance from another person.
The deciding factor: The Veteran was found not in need of regular aid and assistance from another person, despite having multiple service-connected conditions including a traumatic brain injury and psychiatric disorder.
- Claimed conditions
- Traumatic Brain Injury, Psychiatric Disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 26, 2019
- Citation
- 19189170
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,199 · Granted: 25% (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 19189170.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's initial ratings for anxiety disorder and TBI were denied as the evidence did not meet the criteria for a higher rating.
- Granted
The Board granted entitlement to SMC under 38 U.S.C. § 1114(t) effective January 21, 2019, based on the appellant's need for regular aid and attendance due to his service-connected TBI.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal for an initial disability rating in excess of 10 percent for service-connected traumatic brain injury is being remanded due to a procedural error.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected Traumatic Brain Injury did not meet the statutory threshold for special monthly compensation (SMC) at either the housebound or aid and attendance rates due to lack of permanent housebound status or need for regular aid and attendance.
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