The Board denied the appellant's claim for VA benefits as a helpless child of the Veteran on the basis of permanent incapacity for self-support prior to attaining the age of 18, finding that there was no evidence supporting her contention.
The deciding factor: The February 2017 VA examiner concluded it is less likely than not that the appellant's disabilities caused her to be permanently incapable of self-support prior to reaching the age of 18 in March 1975 due to a spinal cord injury at age 18, and lack of evidence supporting mental disability before age 18.
- Claimed conditions
- paraplegia, mental disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 9, 2020
- Citation
- 20039434
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 20039434.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for neurogenic bowel, bladder, and paraplegia as secondary to her service-connected lumbar strain. The AOJ must obtain additional opinions addressing whether these conditions are aggravated by the service-connected condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran's cause of death, including gram negative bacteremia, paraplegia, tracheostomy or intracerebral hemorrhage is related to his service-connected migraine headaches condition. The matter is REMANDED for further action.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for TDIU is denied as the earliest date of claim and entitlement arose is November 10, 2009.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for paraplegia as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected renal cell carcinoma.
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