The Veteran died from non-service-connected causes and did not meet the criteria for nonservice-connected burial death benefits as he was not receiving VA service-connected compensation or pension at the time of his death.
The deciding factor: The Veteran did not have any adjudicated service-connected disabilities, and there were no pending claims for either benefit at the time of his death. The criteria for entitlement to burial benefits under 38 C.F.R. § 3.1705 were not met.
- Claimed conditions
- severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, stage III-IV chronic kidney disease, obesity
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 3, 2022
- Citation
- 22000058
Veterans Law Judge
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 22000058.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The DIC claim is denied because the Veteran was not rated totally disabled for a continuous period of at least 10 years immediately preceding his death. The service connection issue is remanded due to duty to assist error.
- Granted
The Veteran's diabetes mellitus, type II, is granted on a secondary basis with obesity serving as an intermediate step due to service-connected low back disability, sciatica, and right shoulder disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases due to issues with the effective date for service connection and will consider new evidence submitted by the Veteran.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for obesity and obstructive sleep apnea as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected back, left hip, left knee and left lower extremity radiculopathy disabilities.
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