Attorneys that are familiar with veterans’ law are better equipped to ensure that their clients receive all the benefits they are entitled to by law.
For Social Security, the question is simply whether or not you are disabled and unable to work. For VA disability benefits, the question is much more specific: Are you disabled by a condition that is related to your military service? Favorable Social Security Disability decisions can be very helpful to a VA claim, but the VA is not required to follow the SSA’s findings.
- If you have a denial from the Board of Veterans’ Appeals that you would like to appeal to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, legal representation is strongly recommended.
- Many cases do not need the help of an attorney in order to succeed, but if the legal issues are complex, or if an outside expert’s opinion is required, then you may want to consider getting legal representation.
- If you have been denied entitlement to benefits due to unemployability (TDIU) when your ratings meet the criteria for it, legal representation would probably improve your chances of success.
I generally charge a contingent fee, which means that if I am not able to help you win a retroactive benefit award, I would not charge anything. (This is why I am very selective about the cases I take.) If we win, the fee is based on a percentage (usually 25%) of any back benefits awarded, which the client would be required to pay me directly when they receive the award or awards. In some cases, I may charge 20% of the retro award. In those cases, the VA would withhold my fee from the award before releasing the remainder to the client.
Generally, part-time or occasional work that provides less than “gainful” earnings is still permitted. The level of income that is considered gainful is generally based on what the Social Security Administration refers to as “substantially gainful activity.”
It’s the magic of VA math. The VA does not simply add percentages together. Rather, the percentages are “combined.” In this example, the Veteran is 50% disabled by PTSD. That leaves the other 50% technically considered able to work. From the remaining “able” percentage, additional disability ratings are deducted one at a time in descending order. So the closer you get to 100%, the harder it is to get there unless you skip from 60%, 70%, 80%, or 90% straight to 100% via unemployability.
Aside from the fact that life’s not fair, all disability ratings are based upon the severity of symptoms of any given disability, not the severity of the stressors or other facts and circumstances surrounding any in-service incidents.
Each veteran’s personal experience, both during active duty and later with the VA, is different. Each has different disabilities, symptoms, medical records, VA claim histories, and outcomes. And, unfortunately, some veterans simply have better (or worse) luck than others.
It all depends on the status of the case, the number and types of issues involved, and the veteran’s age (the VA now automatically expedites cases when the veteran is 75 or older). The appeals system that went into effect in 2019 seems to be moving much more efficiently than the old (“legacy”) process.
If the veteran has a surviving spouse, the spouse may be substituted to carry out the rest of the appeal. If the veteran is unmarried, unfortunately, the claim dies with them.