Claim Raven explanation
What this means
When a law, regulation, federal court decision, or settlement establishes or changes a service-connection presumption, this section requires VA to identify certain previously denied DIC claims and let the claimant elect reevaluation. An approved reevaluation receives the special effective-date treatment stated here.
VA must identify submitted DIC claims denied before the change that might have been evaluated differently. The claimant chooses whether to have the claim reevaluated. If approved, the statute overrides the ordinary section 5110 framework and directs compensation as though the new presumption had been in effect when the original identified claim was submitted.
How this helps your claim
This provision concerns earlier DIC denials that might have been decided differently under the changed presumption. It creates an election-based reevaluation process and requires VA outreach to potentially affected claimants.
What to check in your records
Compare the earlier denial, the new presumption, and whether the cause-of-death theory falls within the change.
- Keep the original DIC application, denial, and evidence list.
- Identify the new or modified presumption and its effective legal source.
- Preserve VA's reevaluation notice and the claimant's election receipt.
Tie the old denial to the changed presumption
Read the original reasons for denial and identify the missing service-connection element. Then compare that exact issue with the disease, exposure, service location, or other fact covered by the new presumption. A general change in veterans law does not make every prior DIC denial eligible for this process.
Retain proof of the reevaluation election. The statute requires outreach, including direct contact using the last decision-notice method, but the claimant's election remains part of the process. Any resulting award should explain how the special effective-date rule was applied.
Does VA automatically approve every old DIC claim after a new presumption?
No. VA must identify potentially affected claims and allow reevaluation at the claimant's election. The claim is reevaluated under the changed presumption, but the remaining entitlement and relationship requirements still have to be satisfied.
Official statutory text
38 USC § 1305
OLRC release: pl-119-108. Layout and spacing are adapted for reading. The statutory text is shown here; publisher source credits and editorial notes remain in the linked official release.
§ 1305. Reevaluation of dependency and indemnity compensation determinations pursuant to changes in presumptions of service connection
(a) Reevaluation.—Whenever a law, including through a regulation or Federal court decision or settlement, establishes or modifies a presumption of service connection, the Secretary shall—
(1) identify all claims for dependency and indemnity compensation under this chapter that—
(A) were submitted to the Secretary;
(B) were evaluated and denied by the Secretary before the date on which such provision of law went into effect; and
(C) might have been evaluated differently had the establishment or modification been applicable to the claim;
(2) allow for the reevaluation of such claims at the election of the claimant; and
(3) notwithstanding section 5110 of this title, with respect to claims approved pursuant to such reevaluation, provide compensation under this chapter effective as if the establishment or modification of the presumption of service connection had been in effect on the date of the submission of the original claim described in paragraph (1).
(b) Outreach.—(1) The Secretary shall conduct outreach to inform relevant claimants that they may elect to have a claim be reevaluated in light of the establishment or modification of a presumption of service connection described in subsection (a).
(2) Outreach under paragraph (1) shall include the following:
(A) The Secretary shall publish on the internet website of the Department a notice that such claimants may elect to have a claim so reevaluated.
(B) The Secretary shall notify, in writing or by electronic means, veterans service organizations of the ability of such claimants to elect to have a claim so reevaluated.
(C) The Secretary shall contact each claimant identified under subsection (a) in the same manner that the Department last provided notice of a decision.
Related references
- 38 USC § 1112: Chronic Disease and Other Service Presumptions
- 38 USC § 1116: Agent Orange and Herbicide Presumptions
- 38 USC § 1310: When a service-connected death supports DIC
- 38 USC § 5110: Effective Dates and Continuous Pursuit in Federal Law
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