38 CFR: VA Disability Regulations Explained: Page 9
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This collection: 268 CFR sections and 118 U.S. Code sections for disability claims and reviews. Search covers this collection. Browse or search M21 separately.
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- 38 CFR § 20.1404
Regulation2026-09-03Filing a CUE Motion With the Board
A Board CUE motion must be written and signed, identify the decision and issues, and clearly explain the alleged error, its factual or legal basis, and why the result would have been different.
- 38 CFR § 1.577
Regulation2026-09-17How to request access to your VA records
This Privacy Act rule explains how an individual can ask to see or copy a VA record about them. The request must identify the relevant VA record system and allow VA to verify the requester’s identity.
- 38 CFR § 1.579
Regulation2026-09-17How to ask VA to amend a personal record
An individual may ask VA to amend a record about them that is inaccurate, irrelevant, untimely, or incomplete. VA must either correct the record or explain the refusal and the process for requesting review.
- 38 CFR § 1.911
Regulation2026-09-17What a VA benefit debt notice must explain
When VA determines that a debt arose from a benefit or home-loan program, it must send a written demand explaining the amount, the reason, available remedies, and possible collection consequences.
- 38 CFR § 1.963
Regulation2026-09-17Requesting a waiver of a VA benefit overpayment
VA may waive recovery of a benefit overpayment when there is no fraud, misrepresentation, or bad faith and collection would be against equity and good conscience.
- 38 CFR § 1.965
Regulation2026-09-17How VA applies equity and good conscience to debt waivers
VA uses the equity-and-good-conscience standard to reach a fair decision about collecting a debt. It considers fault, hardship, the benefit’s purpose, unfair gain, and harmful reliance, while fraud, material misrepresentation, or bad faith bars waiver.
- 38 CFR § 3.5
Regulation2026-09-17What dependency and indemnity compensation means
Dependency and indemnity compensation, usually called DIC, is a monthly VA benefit for an eligible surviving spouse, child, or parent based on a qualifying service-connected death or another statutory DIC route.
- 38 CFR § 3.10
Regulation2026-09-17How VA calculates a surviving spouse’s DIC rate
A surviving spouse’s DIC payment starts with the applicable basic rate and can include increases for an eight-year total-disability history, qualifying children, aid and attendance, housebound status, or a temporary child-related amount.
- 38 CFR § 3.22
Regulation2026-09-17DIC when a veteran was totally disabled before death
Section 1318 can provide DIC when the veteran’s death was not service connected but a service-connected disability was continuously rated totally disabling for the qualifying period before death.
- 38 CFR § 3.33
Regulation2026-09-17Reevaluation of denied DIC claims after a new presumption
A person whose DIC claim was denied before a new or changed service-connection presumption may elect reevaluation when the earlier claim might have been decided differently under the new law.
- 38 CFR § 3.50
Regulation2026-09-17Who VA recognizes as a spouse or surviving spouse
This section connects spouse and surviving-spouse status to a marriage VA recognizes and, for a survivor, to the relationship at the veteran’s death, cohabitation rules, and remarriage rules.
- 38 CFR § 3.52
Regulation2026-09-17When VA may deem an attempted marriage valid
VA can treat an attempted marriage as valid for survivor benefits when a legal impediment made it invalid but the claimant did not know of the impediment and the other requirements are met.
- 38 CFR § 3.53
Regulation2026-09-17Continuous cohabitation for a surviving spouse
A separation does not always break VA’s continuous-cohabitation requirement. The reason for living apart, the veteran’s conduct, and the surviving spouse’s intent are central.
- 38 CFR § 3.54
Regulation2026-09-17Marriage-duration rules for VA survivor benefits
The date and length of the marriage can affect eligibility for survivors pension, death compensation, or DIC, with different alternatives for each benefit.
- 38 CFR § 3.55
Regulation2026-09-17When survivor eligibility can return after remarriage ends
This section contains benefit-specific exceptions that can preserve or restore survivor eligibility after a remarriage, divorce, annulment, death, or the end of a marriage-like relationship.
- 38 CFR § 3.152
Regulation2026-09-17How VA treats a claim for death benefits
A survivor generally must file the prescribed claim for death benefits. A surviving spouse’s or child’s DIC or compensation claim is also treated as a claim for survivors pension and accrued benefits, subject to the rule’s limits.
- 38 CFR § 3.153
Regulation2026-09-17When a Social Security application counts as a VA death claim
This regulation describes when a jointly prescribed Social Security application counts as a VA death-benefit claim. Current 38 U.S.C. 5105 also covers an application on any document indicating intent to apply for survivor benefits.
- 38 CFR § 3.205
Regulation2026-09-17Evidence VA can use to establish a marriage
VA may accept public or church records, an original certificate, an officiant’s statement, eyewitness statements, evidence of a marriage recognized without a ceremony, or other reliable secondary evidence.
- 38 CFR § 3.209
Regulation2026-09-17Evidence of birth, age, and family relationship
This section lists records and statements VA may use to establish a person’s birth, age, or relationship when those facts affect benefit eligibility.
- 38 CFR § 3.210
Regulation2026-09-17How VA establishes a child’s relationship to a veteran
VA uses different evidence for a biological child, adopted child, or stepchild. The required proof depends on the claimed relationship and the records legally available.
- 38 CFR § 3.250
Regulation2026-09-17How VA decides whether a parent is dependent
VA considers a parent’s income, estate, necessary expenses, household obligations, and overall ability to maintain a reasonable way of life when deciding dependency for compensation.
- 38 CFR § 3.312
Regulation2026-09-17When a service-connected disability caused or contributed to death
VA grants service connection for the cause of death when a service-connected disability was the principal cause or contributed substantially and materially to death.
- 38 CFR § 3.323
Regulation2026-09-17How VA combines multiple disability ratings
When a person has two or more compensable service-connected disabilities, VA combines their evaluations under the rating schedule’s table and rules rather than adding the percentages directly.
- 38 CFR § 3.330
Regulation2026-09-17What happens after a missed VA examination
When a veteran later reports for an examination after benefits were reduced or terminated for an earlier failure to report, VA applies the abandoned-claim and missed-examination rules to decide what can resume.
- 38 CFR § 3.351
Regulation2026-09-17Aid and attendance and housebound status for pension and survivors
This section identifies who can receive increased pension, DIC, death compensation, or spouse-related compensation because of a need for regular aid and attendance or qualifying housebound status.