The Veteran's death was found to be service-connected, and the appellant is granted burial benefits. However, he does not qualify for additional burial benefits such as a plot or interment allowance.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's cause of death (COVID-19) was found to be service-connected, qualifying him for service-connected burial benefits.
- Claimed conditions
- COVID-19
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- October 29, 2024
- Citation
- A24069783
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,329 · Granted: 31% (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 A24069783.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that none of the listed causes were related to his military service and no service-connected disability contributed to his death.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was caused by COVID-19, but the cause of his PTSD did not contribute to his death. The appeal for DIC benefits under 38 U.S.C. § 1318 is denied as he did not meet the criteria for a total disability rating for at least 10 years prior to his death.
- Granted
The Veteran received non-VA urgent care for COVID-19 symptoms at Susan B. Allen Immediate Care on January 27, 2022. The Board found the care was emergent and not previously authorized by VA or a federal facility, thus granting payment under 38 U.S.C. § 1725.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's death was due to a service-connected disability, specifically obesity which developed as a result of his service-connected knee disabilities. The Board found that this obesity contributed to the cause of death.
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