General Information on Contested Claims

Overview

In This Section

This section contains the following topics:

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1. Identifying Contested Claims

Introduction

This topic contains information on identifying contested claims, including

• definition of a contested claim
• apportionment claims
• claims involving a contested relationship
• other types of contested claims, and
• claims for the payment of attorney fees from past-due benefits.

Change Date

February 25, 2019

VI.iii.3.A.1.a. Definition: Contested Claim

A contested claim exists when

• a favorable decision on one claim requires
• the denial of a claim from a separate claimant, or
• payment of a lesser benefit to a separate claimant, and
• one claimant may contest
• the other claimant's entitlement to that benefit, or
• payment of that benefit to the other claimant.

VI.iii.3.A.1.b. Apportionment Claims

A claim for an apportionment of a beneficiary's Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits is one type of contested claim.

Reference: For more information on apportionment claims, see M21-1, Part VI, Subpart iv, 2.

VI.iii.3.A.1.c. Claims Involving a Contested Relationship

A contested claim automatically arises if two people

• allege to be a deceased Veteran's legal surviving
• spouse
• mother, or
• father, and
• file a formal claim for the same benefit.

Note: This principle applies to all claims for which entitlement to VA benefits is based on the claimant's relationship to the Veteran.

VI.iii.3.A.1.d. Other Types of Contested Claims

Consider a claim contested if

• VA receives formal claims for entitlement to the same benefit from two claimants, and
• one of the claimants protests the payment of benefits to the other claimant.

Notes:

• Consider evidence in support of a claim a protest.
• A protest against payment must be based on the claimant’s assertion of entitlement.
• One claimant's assertion that another claimant does not deserve a benefit is not a valid protest.

Examples:

• The natural mother of a Veteran protests the payment of Parents’ Dependency and Indemnity Compensation to the Veteran’s adoptive mother and claims that she, as the natural mother, is the parent whom VA should recognize as the legal surviving mother.
• A person files a claim for accrued benefits as the payer of the expenses of a Veteran’s last illness and burial and alleges the other claimant for accrued benefits is not the Veteran’s legal surviving spouse.

VI.iii.3.A.1.e. Claims for the Payment of Attorney Fees From Past-Due Benefits

VA’s failure to withhold 20 percent of past-due benefits for the payment of attorney fees, as well as its denial of the payment of attorney fees from past-due benefits, are appealable to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals.

This type of claim involves two parties, the claimant and the representative. Such claims must, therefore, be handled as contested claims, as VA may be required to attempt to collect from the claimant fees owed to the attorney.

Important: The option to request decision review via higher-level review or supplemental claim, as referenced in 38 CFR 3.2500, is not available to parties in a contested claim.

Reference: For more information on withholding benefits for the payment of attorney fees, see M21-5, Chapter 8.

2. Handling a Claim That Is in Contest a With a Pending Claim or the Payment of Benefits in a Running Award

Change Date

May 9, 2018

VI.iii.3.A.2.a. Handling a Claim That Is in Contest With a Pending Claim or the Payment of Benefits in a Running Award

Follow the steps in the table below upon receipt of a claim that, according to the information in M21-1, Part VI, Subpart iii, 3.A.1, is in contest with

• a pending claim from another claimant, or
• VA’s payment of benefits to another person.

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Important: While a contested claim is pending, keep all contesting parties informed of

• the status of the claim
• any processing delays, and
• actions VA has taken, such as development action.