A VA Disability Claims Manual for the Rest of Us

Adding or Removing a Dependent walks seven steps: confirm your rating threshold, compare VA's dependent list with your household, complete VA Form 21-686c, add proof only where needed, file inside the one-year window, remove anyone who no longer qualifies, and confirm the change. Education only.

Building a Complete VA Claim, Start to Decision takes you through thirteen steps: protect your date, check your discharge, gather records and statements, line up the medical link, file Form 21-526EZ, attend your exam, and read the decision and codesheet. Education only.

Do You Even Have a Claim takes you through eight steps: confirm qualifying service, check your discharge, list every condition, check the medical evidence, the in-service event, and the link, pick a path, and take close calls to accredited help. Education only.

File Online at VA.gov takes you through ten steps: sign in with a verified account, protect your effective date, start Form 21-526EZ, add every condition, upload labeled evidence, choose a claim type, review, submit, and track the claim. Education only.

File a Fully Developed Claim takes you through eight steps: confirm your private evidence is complete, gather records, opinions, and statements, list the federal records VA will get, select the program on Form 21-526EZ, submit everything together, and track it. Education only.

File on Paper, by Mail takes you through nine steps: print the current Form 21-526EZ, file an Intent to File, fill in every part, attach copies, sign, copy the packet, mail it with tracking, and confirm VA received it. Education only.

Filing Your First VA Disability Claim walks you through twelve steps: file an Intent to File, sort each condition by path, get your records, gather medical evidence and statements, choose free help, pick a claim type, and file Form 21-526EZ. Education only.

Filing a Direct Service-Connection Claim covers eleven steps: document your condition and the in-service event, record an Intent to File, gather records and statements, decide on a private nexus opinion, file VA Form 21-526EZ, and track the decision. Education only.

Filing a Hemorrhoids Claim walks seven steps: file an Intent to File, record the type, prolapse, and clotting episodes, document bleeding and anemia, tie it to service, get a medical opinion, file VA Form 21-526EZ, and prepare for the exam. Education only.

Filing a Presumptive Service-Connection Claim covers ten steps: document your qualifying service, check the current presumptive lists on va.gov, get the right medical records, record an Intent to File, file VA Form 21-526EZ, and keep a direct path open. Education only.

Filing a Scars Claim walks seven steps: file an Intent to File, photograph and measure each scar, mark which are painful or unstable, state each cause, note any limited motion, file VA Form 21-526EZ, and prepare for the exam. Education only.

Filing an Aggravation Claim walks you through ten steps: sort whether a pre-service condition or a service-connected condition made things worse, document the starting level and the worsening, get a medical opinion, and file VA Form 21-526EZ under that theory. Education only.

Filing an Eczema or Dermatitis Claim walks seven steps: file an Intent to File, document skin coverage during a flare, record treatment over the past year, photograph flares, pick your path, file VA Form 21-526EZ, and prepare for the exam. Education only.

Gather Your Evidence, the Three Legs takes you through seven steps: gather current medical evidence, document the in-service event, line up the medical link, check presumptive rules, add statements on Forms 21-4138 and 21-10210, index everything, and get help. Education only.

Get Your C-File takes you through eight steps: decide what to request, submit VA Form 20-10206 online or by mail, ask for the complete claims file, track the request, follow up, then read and organize the file for your claim. Education only.

Intent to File, Lock Your Date takes you through six steps: choose how to submit, name the benefit type, file one Intent to File, save the date, calendar the one-year deadline, and file your complete claim with every condition. Education only.

Read and Understand Your Decision Letter covers seven steps: find the summary of decisions, note each evaluation and effective date, read the reasons and favorable findings, calendar your one-year deadline, check for errors, and match any disagreement to a review lane. Education only.

Write Your Personal Statement takes you through eight steps on VA Form 21-4138: get the current form, pick your conditions, describe each symptom by what it limits, stick to what you saw and felt, match your records, sign, and submit. Education only.

Three versions of the same buddy statement: weak, strong and harmful. Includes a two-page fillable handout your witness can complete, sign and hand back, plus a checklist to run before you submit.

Five, ten and twenty years each protect something different. Explains rating reduction protections, the 30-day hearing and 60-day evidence windows, with a fillable rating inventory.

Your back is measured on one day. This log puts your bad days into the file. Covers the spine flexion bands and the painful-on-use rule, with a fillable flare log.

Aid and Attendance does not require failing all five factors. Explains the real helplessness test, factor five on safety and the housebound routes, with a fillable two-week helper log.

Migraine ratings never ask how much it hurts. They ask about prostrating attacks and how often they average. Includes a fillable attack log and the work evidence the 50 percent level needs.

Five review lanes, and two of them cannot see new evidence. Sorts supplemental claim, Higher-Level Review and the three Board dockets, with a fillable sorting worksheet and one-year deadline check.

A tie goes to the veteran, and an opinion with no reasoning weighs nothing. Explains benefit of the doubt and includes a page to hand your doctor about nexus opinions.

For a mental health C&P exam. Shows how a good morning can hide a hard year, and gives a two-week symptom log to fill in before the exam.

Why 50, 30 and 20 make 70, not 100. Walks through VA's combined ratings math, the bilateral factor and rounding mistakes, then gives a fillable worksheet to check your own decision letter.

With a presumption, the proof moves to your personnel file. Covers what you still have to establish, where to get your records, and a fillable service timeline worksheet.

TDIU is a different door, not a rating you climb to. Explains the percentage rules, marginal employment and the Census threshold, then gives a fillable job-by-job work history record.