newsletter articles

OCTOBER 2010

NVLSP and Chadbourne Win Case for Older Veterans

Howard Chandler served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean conflict. When he was age 57 he became totally disabled and was granted nonservice-connected Veterans Administration (VA) pension benefits. These benefits are awarded to low income veterans who served during wartime and who are totally disabled.

When Mr. Chandler turned age 71, he applied for a special monthly pension benefit that could pay him about $2,500 more per year than the regular pension benefit. He thought he qualified for this upgrade because he was age 65 or older and he was still considered totally disabled. The VA’s policy at that time, however, was to grant this special monthly pension benefit only to veterans who applied to receive a VA pension after they turned age 65. The VA regional office and the Board of Veterans’ Appeals denied Mr. Chandler’s claim because he first received his VA pension before he turned age 65. Essentially, Mr. Chandler and many other veterans were denied this special pension benefit because they became disabled earlier in life and began to receive VA pension benefits before age 65.

National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP) joined with attorney Thomas Riley of Chadbourne and Parke LLP to assist Mr. Chandler by appealing to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. NVLSP and Chadbourne argued that a straightforward reading of the relevant statutes and the case of Hartness v. Nicholson showed that Mr. Chandler was entitled to the special pension benefit. Also, the attorneys argued that the VA’s interpretation was unreasonable because veterans of similar age and disability levels were treated differently based solely on their age when they first applied for VA pension benefits.

The Court reversed the Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision and found that Mr. Chandler was entitled to the special monthly pension benefit. The Court agreed with NVLSP and Chadbourne that Mr. Chandler was entitled under a simple reading of the statutes and the previously-decided Hartness case. The Court held that VA’s construction of the relevant laws would lead to an absurd result in that some veterans like Mr. Chandler, who are at least age 65 and totally disabled and who started receiving VA pension benefits prior to age 65, would receive less in VA pension benefits than veterans over age 65 but not totally disabled when they began to receive pension. The Court found that such an interpretation clearly could not have been the intent of Congress. This decision removes a significant obstacle for receipt of special monthly pension benefits for low-income veterans who became totally disabled and began to receive VA pension prior to age 65.

The hope is that this will open the doors for other veterans who find themselves in the same place as Mr. Chandler.