Claim Raven explanation
What this means
A liberalizing law or VA issue is a change that can make a benefit available or increase entitlement. This section addresses how the effective date is determined when an award results from such a change.
An award is not automatically payable from the first day the law changed. The rule includes requirements concerning eligibility and the timing of review or application, and special statutes may supply additional rules.
How this helps your claim
This helps you understand the date analysis in a claim based on a new benefit provision. Compare the change in law, your eligibility history, and the actual application dates.
What to check in your records
Use your decision, examination reports, and relevant records to check the following points.
- Identify the law or VA issue that changed and its effective date.
- Locate evidence showing when the relevant eligibility requirements were met.
- Check application and review dates against the applicable effective-date provisions.
Distinguish the change in law from the claim timeline
When a benefit becomes available because of a liberalizing change, several dates may matter: the change's effective date, when the person met its requirements, and when VA reviewed or received the claim. Those dates need not be the same.
Build the timeline from actual records rather than a news article announcing the change. Identify the legal provision that created the benefit and any special effective-date rule attached to it. A broad statement that a new law permits back pay does not establish the start date for an individual award.
Does a new presumption automatically reopen every old decision?
Do not assume that result from this section alone. The applicable law, review process and effective-date provisions must be considered together. A prior denial and a later change can be important facts, but they do not by themselves establish a particular reopening procedure or payment date.
Official regulatory text
38 CFR § 3.114
eCFR snapshot: September 3, 2026. Layout and spacing are adapted for reading. The full section and its tables are included below.
§ 3.114 Change of law or Department of Veterans Affairs issue.
(a) Effective date of award. Where pension, compensation, dependency and indemnity compensation, or a monetary allowance under 38 U.S.C. chapter 18 for an individual who is a child of a Vietnam veteran or child of a veteran with covered service in Korea is awarded or increased pursuant to a liberalizing law, or a liberalizing VA issue approved by the Secretary or by the Secretary's direction, the effective date of such award or increase shall be fixed in accordance with the facts found, but shall not be earlier than the effective date of the act or administrative issue. Where pension, compensation, dependency and indemnity compensation, or a monetary allowance under 38 U.S.C. chapter 18 for an individual who is a child of a Vietnam veteran or child of a veteran with covered service in Korea is awarded or increased pursuant to a liberalizing law or VA issue which became effective on or after the date of its enactment or issuance, in order for a claimant to be eligible for a retroactive payment under the provisions of this paragraph the evidence must show that the claimant met all eligibility criteria for the liberalized benefit on the effective date of the liberalizing law or VA issue and that such eligibility existed continuously from that date to the date of claim or administrative determination of entitlement. The provisions of this paragraph are applicable to original and supplemental claims as well as claims for increase.
(1) If a claim is reviewed on the initiative of VA within 1 year from the effective date of the law or VA issue, or at the request of a claimant received within 1 year from that date, benefits may be authorized from the effective date of the law or VA issue.
(2) If a claim is reviewed on the initiative of VA more than 1 year after the effective date of the law or VA issue, benefits may be authorized for a period of 1 year prior to the date of administrative determination of entitlement.
(3) If a claim is reviewed at the request of the claimant more than 1 year after the effective date of the law or VA issue, benefits may be authorized for a period of 1 year prior to the date of receipt of such request.
(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 1805, 1815, 1821, 1832, 5110(g))
(b) Discontinuance of benefits. Where the reduction or discontinuance of an award is in order because of a change in law or a Department of Veterans Affairs issue, or because of a change in interpretation of a law or Department of Veterans Affairs issue, the payee will be notified at his or her latest address of record of the contemplated action and furnished detailed reasons therefor, and will be given 60 days for the presentation of additional evidence. If additional evidence is not received within that period, the award will be reduced or discontinued effective the last day of the month in which the 60-day period expired.
(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 5112(b)(6))
[27 FR 11886, Dec. 1, 1962, as amended at 55 FR 13529, Apr. 11, 1990; 62 FR 17706, Apr. 11, 1997; 65 FR 35282, June 2, 2000; 67 FR 49586, July 31, 2002; 76 FR 4247, Jan. 25, 2011; 84 FR 168, Jan. 18, 2019; 84 FR 4336, Feb. 15, 2019]
Related references
- 38 USC § 5112: Effective Dates for Reducing or Stopping Benefits
- 38 CFR § 4.1: What a VA disability rating measures
- 38 CFR § 3.159: VA duty to assist: records and examinations
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