The Veteran's claim for a 70% rating for depressive disorder was granted with an effective date of January 22, 2021. The claim had been withdrawn by the Veteran but the withdrawal process did not notify her that it had been processed and she had 30 days to retract it.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's initial claim for service connection for depressive disorder was withdrawn, but the VA did not notify her of this processing within the required 30-day period. As a result, the withdrawal is considered ineffective, allowing for an earlier effective date.
- Claimed conditions
- depressive disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- February 5, 2026
- Citation
- A26011296
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 A26011296.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's vascular headaches are granted effective August 22, 2011. A TDIU is granted effective February 11, 2015. SMC based on housebound criteria is denied prior to July 14, 2020.
- Granted
The Board has restored the Veteran's 100% rating for depressive disorder, effective August 1, 2020, as the reduction was improper and did not comply with applicable regulations.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for acquired psychiatric disability, including unspecified anxiety disorder, depressive disorder, kleptomania, and PTSD is being remanded due to the AOJ's failure to obtain medical records from his periods of incarceration or a medical opinion regarding his diagnoses.
- Granted
The Veteran was granted service connection for migraine headaches effective August 10, 2022.,The Veteran was granted service connection for depressive disorder effective April 11, 2024.
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