The Veteran's claim for payment of additional accrued benefits is being remanded due to procedural errors. The appellant needs to be determined as a proper party to substitute for the Veteran, and the merits of the SMP benefits claim for the one-year period prior to April 2017 on the basis of liberalized legislation will need to be adjudicated.
The deciding factor: Procedural errors were identified in the initial decision, requiring further review by the AOJ to determine if the appellant is a proper party to substitute and to adjudicate the merits of the SMP benefits claim for the one-year period prior to April 2017 on the basis of liberalized legislation.
- Claimed conditions
- Not specified in this decision
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 28, 2020
- Citation
- A20016149
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,757 · Granted: 23% (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 A20016149.
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
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