The Board has restored the Veteran's Total Disability Rating Based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU) and Dependents' Education Assistance (DEA) benefits effective January 1, 2019. The decision was based on the evidence showing that the Veteran did not secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation in calendar year 2017.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran's earnings in 2017 were from long-term disability benefits and not employment, thus meeting the criteria for restoration of TDIU and DEA benefits.
- Claimed conditions
- TDIU (Total Disability Rating Based on Individual Unemployability), Dependents’ Education Assistance (DEA)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- April 17, 2020
- Citation
- 20026773
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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 20026773.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board allowed the benefit or issue identified in this decision. Review the original order: other issues in the same appeal may have a different outcome, and this decision does not predict another claim.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of July 30, 2021, for the grant of service connection for hypertension and dismissed claims for earlier effective dates for other conditions.
- Whole decision: Dismissed
The Veteran has withdrawn her appeal for all six issues, including an increased rating for cervical spine disability, migraine headaches, and initial ratings for cervical radiculopathy of the upper extremities. The effective dates for TDIU and DEA benefits have also been withdrawn.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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