The Board denied the Appellant's claim for additional DIC benefits pursuant to 38 U.S.C. § 1311(a)(2) as the Veteran was not in receipt of, and was not entitled to receive, compensation for a service-connected disability that was rated totally disabling for a continuous period of at least eight years immediately preceding his death.

The deciding factor: The Board determined that 'entitled to receive' under 38 U.S.C. § 1311(a)(2) must be based on determinations made during the Veteran's lifetime, challenges to such determinations based on CUE, or retroactive evaluation based on previously unconsidered service records, and not on hypothetical entitlement.

Claimed conditions

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

How they argued it

Not specified

Exposure basis

None

Rating assigned

None in this decision

Decision date

February 28, 2025

Citation

A25018411

Want to see how appeals like this one tend to go? Appeals like mine