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Free guide · Read online or download
Follow the VA claim process step by step, from Intent to File through decision, review, special claims, and family benefits. Read 29 chapters online or take the free PDF field kit with you.
29 chapters in 5 parts
Downloadable field kit · No email required
Four free PDFs for different points in the claim process. Print them, mark them up, and share them with your accredited representative.
Twenty-nine chapters across five parts: filing and evidence, the C&P exam, decisions, effective dates, appeals, TDIU, the PACT Act, and reductions. Regulations and official sources are listed by chapter.
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Seventy-three conditions, organized by category. Each profile covers the Board outcome mix, evidence patterns in the analyzed decisions, diagnostic-code context, and common filing considerations.
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Deadline and status trackers, evidence and C-file logs, decision and denial decoders, plus worksheets for personal statements, witness statements, and nexus-letter requests.
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A four-page orientation to the elements a disability claim generally needs, dates that can affect what you are owed, and VA form numbers used at common points in the process.
Download PDFOnline edition · 29 chapters
Search by topic or work through the chapters in order. Each chapter has its own shareable page and links to the next step.
Intent to File, gathering evidence, and three ways to submit your claim.
02The three elements every claim needs: diagnosis, in-service event, and nexus.
03When a nexus opinion helps, what it should address, and red flags that weaken medical evidence.
04Who can write a lay statement, what firsthand facts to include, and how to avoid credibility problems.
05PTSD stressor rules, MST evidence, and how to prepare for mental health C&P exams.
The eight current VA status stages, evidence requests, exams, and what it means when a claim moves backward.
07How to prepare, what to expect during the exam, and what to do if it's inadequate.
08Key sections to review, common codes, and what to do after receiving your letter.
09How effective dates are set, special rules, and what actually determines retroactive pay.
How VA math and the bilateral factor work, what rating thresholds do, and how TDIU and P&T differ.
11Match your evidence to the right service-connection path instead of mixing direct, secondary, aggravation, and presumptive rules.
12A current map of PACT Act lanes, locations, dates, respiratory illnesses, rare cancers, and the separate Gulf War rule.
13SMC levels, 2026 veteran-alone rates, housebound and aid-and-attendance paths, and how to ask VA to maximize the award.
14Separate a proposed reduction, severance, temporary rating, and TDIU review, then use the right evidence and deadline.
15A verification workflow for state and local veteran benefits without relying on a generic fifty-state promise.
Compare the three VA decision-review lanes, their evidence rules and forms, and the deadlines that protect an effective date.
17A high legal bar for correcting a final decision when the record and law already showed an undebatable outcome-changing error.
18Turn a denial into an issue-by-issue evidence plan instead of resubmitting the same packet.
19Request the right records, protect sensitive information, and use the file to verify what VA actually reviewed.
20Choose qualified help, understand when fees are allowed, and keep control of your claim and private information.
21Find the right VA form for an initial claim, review lane, evidence statement, records request, family benefit, or representative appointment.
22The legal windows that protect an effective date or review right, separated from processing times VA can change.
How service-connected disabilities can support payment at the 100 percent rate when steady work is no longer realistic.
24How to document a service-connected condition that has worsened and request the correct higher evaluation.
25How to develop an exposure-related claim even when the condition is not on a presumptive list.
26How to file before separation and prove the qualifying duty period for Guard and Reserve conditions.
27How a disability award can change compensation and open separate benefits for spouses, children, parents, and caregivers.
28What families should check after a service-connected death or when a veteran dies with a claim or appeal still pending.
29A practical vocabulary for reading VA letters, forms, examination reports, and decisions.
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