Much like filing taxes with a dependent, filing a VA claim with a dependent means that you can receive a higher compensation payment or benefit rate per month.
There are a couple of requirements, the first being that you must have a combined disability rating of at least 30% and that you must be eligible to receive VA disability compensation yourself.
A dependent can be a spouse, a parent, or an unmarried child including any adopted children or step children. Your dependent has to be under 18 years old or between 18 and 23 and enrolled in school full time or permanently disabled.
If you haven’t yet filed a claim for disability compensation you can file a claim for additional compensation for a dependent at the same time as you file your original claim for disability compensation. If you want to add a dependent after having filed your claim you can still file later.
A common situation that we see is when a recipient of va compensation gets married, has a children or is adopted. Visit this page to add a dependent. And of course if your dependent is between 18-23 and attending school full time complete this form (https://www.vba.va.gov/pubs/forms/VBA-21-674-ARE.pdf) as well.
We understand that the claims process can be confusing; if you have any questions about your claims process Gumps V.A. Comp. Services would be more than happy to help answer them. Please give us a call at (888) 854 8677 or book an appointment with an accredited agent here.