How to File a VA Disability Claim for an Elderly Veteran Parent

When your mother or father is the veteran and can no longer handle VA paperwork alone, you can still file a first VA disability claim for them, and VA says it's never too late to file.1 This is how to file a VA disability claim for an elderly veteran when you, the adult child, are the one doing the work: protect the date with an intent to file, file VA Form 21-526EZ, sign for your parent if they can't sign, ask for priority processing if they're 85 or older, and plan for the claim exam.2,3,4,5

In This Guide

• The Four VA Forms, in the Order You'll Use Them
• Is It Too Late to File a VA Disability Claim for Your Parent?
• What Your Parent's Claim Has to Show
• Lock In the Date First With an Intent to File
• How to File the VA Disability Claim (VA Form 21-526EZ)
• Who Signs When Your Parent Can't (VA Form 21-0972)
• Asking for Priority Processing at 85 or Older (VA Form 20-10207)
• When Your Parent Can't Get to the Claim Exam
• Getting Free Help With the Claim
• After the Decision, or If Your Parent Dies First
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Learn More

The Four VA Forms, in the Order You'll Use Them

Most families filing for an older parent touch the same small set of forms. The order matters more than the paperwork itself, because the first one protects the date and the last one only works once a claim exists.2,5

Is It Too Late to File a VA Disability Claim for Your Parent?

No. VA.gov says a claim for a disability that appears after discharge is called a postservice claim, and there's no time limit on filing one, though the process may become more complex the longer you wait. VA News puts it more directly: it's never too late to file a claim or an intent to file.1

What waiting does change is the effective date, the day VA's payments start counting from. Under 38 CFR 3.400, when a claim is received within one year after separation from service, the effective date for direct service connection is the day after separation or the date entitlement arose, and for presumptive service connection it's the date entitlement arose. After that first year, the effective date is the date VA receives the claim or the date entitlement arose, whichever is later.1 For a parent who left the military decades ago, that means the later rule applies. Federal law, 38 U.S.C. 5110(a)(1), says an award on an initial claim can't be effective earlier than the date VA receives the application, so each month the claim sits unfiled is generally a month VA won't pay for.7

That's the real argument for starting now rather than waiting until every record is in hand.

What Your Parent's Claim Has to Show

VA describes a service-connected condition as an illness or injury that was caused by, or got worse because of, active military service.8 Under 38 CFR 3.303, service connection can be shown directly or through statutory presumptions, and it can be granted for a disease diagnosed after discharge when all the evidence, including the service evidence, establishes that the disease started in service.8 So a condition first diagnosed when your father was 70 isn't ruled out; the question is whether the evidence ties it to his service.

Age itself doesn't help or hurt the claim. Under 38 CFR 4.19, VA may not consider age as a factor in evaluating a service-connected disability, and unemployability associated with advancing age can't be the basis for a total disability rating.9 The same limit applies to a total rating based on individual unemployability. Under 38 CFR 3.341(a), when your parent's service-connected conditions are rated at less than 100 percent, VA has to find that those conditions are enough to keep them from working without regard to advancing age. Age counts only when VA evaluates disability that didn't result from service, which is VA pension.9 If your parent's conditions have no link to service, the pension route, including Aid and Attendance, is the one to look at instead; our Aid and Attendance guide covers it.

For a parent whose main diagnosis is dementia: dementia can be service-connected in specific circumstances, including certain dementias that follow a service-connected traumatic brain injury under 38 CFR 3.310(d).10 Our guide to dementia and VA service connection explains when.

Ratings and payment amounts are covered in our VA disability compensation guide.

Lock In the Date First With an Intent to File

An intent to file lets you start a disability compensation claim while you're still gathering information, and VA says it can secure the earliest possible effective date for any retroactive payments. Under 38 CFR 3.155(b), if VA receives the complete claim within one year of receiving the intent to file, VA treats the claim as filed on the date the intent to file arrived.2 For a family digging through decades-old service and medical records, that year is the breathing room you need. The ways to submit one, and what happens if the year runs out, are in our VA intent to file guide.

How to File the VA Disability Claim (VA Form 21-526EZ)

VA calls the first claim filed for a disability the original claim, and a veteran's original disability compensation claim is filed on VA Form 21-526EZ, the Application for Disability Compensation and Related Compensation Benefits.3 VA Form 21-526EZ is also the form a veteran with a service-connected disability uses to ask for increased compensation when that disability gets worse. If your parent is already rated, our guide to asking VA for a higher rating is the one to read, because the evidence rules for an increase are different.11

VA.gov lists five ways to file a claim for compensation:3

• Online, through VA's online 21-526EZ application
• By mail, using VA Form 21-526EZ
• In person, by bringing the application to a VA regional office
• By fax
• With an accredited representative: a VA-accredited attorney, claims agent, or Veterans Service Organization (VSO) representative

The mailing address, fax details and regional office locator are on VA's how to file a VA disability claim page.

You don't have to wait until you have every record. For an original claim, VA.gov says the claimant doesn't have to submit any evidence to support the claim, though VA may need to schedule a claim exam to learn more about the condition, and the claimant has up to a year from the date VA receives the claim to turn in evidence.3 VA still encourages sending all supporting documents with the claim, because that helps it process the claim quickly. So if your parent's discharge papers and recent doctor's records are within reach, include them.

Who Signs When Your Parent Can't (VA Form 21-0972)

This is the question that stops most families, and federal law answers it. Under 38 U.S.C. 5101(a)(2), when a person is mentally incompetent or physically unable to sign a form, a claim form filed for that person may be signed by:4

• A court-appointed representative
• A person responsible for the person's care, including a spouse or other relative
• An attorney in fact or agent authorized under a durable power of attorney
• The manager or principal officer of the institution, if the person is in an institution's care

VA calls this person an alternate signer and certifies them with the Alternate Signer Certification, VA Form 21-0972. VA.gov says to use the form if you're signing a VA benefits application or related form on behalf of someone else, and it can be submitted online.4 VA.gov describes the person being signed for as someone with an illness, injury or other health condition that keeps them from making decisions for themselves or giving the information needed to complete forms, or someone who physically can't sign. A parent with advanced dementia, or one whose hands no longer allow a signature after a stroke, may fit that description.

After the form is submitted, VA may ask for documents to verify that the signer qualifies. Examples VA gives include a court certificate or order, documentation of appointment as a fiduciary, a durable power of attorney, a health care power of attorney, or an affidavit or notarized statement from an institution or person responsible for the veteran's care.4 If you're the daughter who manages Dad's care at home, gather whatever shows that before you file.

Once certified, the alternate signer can sign any evidence in support of the open claim and can keep signing forms related to the claim until it's completed or closed, as long as they still qualify.4

Asking for Priority Processing at 85 or Older (VA Form 20-10207)

A veteran or other claimant with an existing VA claim can ask VA to process it faster with the Priority Processing Request, VA Form 20-10207, either on paper or online.5 Because the request works on a claim that already exists, it comes after the 21-526EZ, never in place of it.

VA.gov says a claimant may qualify for priority processing, meaning a faster decision on the claim, if any of these descriptions is true:5

• Homeless or at risk of becoming homeless
• Experiencing extreme financial hardship, such as loss of a job or a sudden drop in income
• Has ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis)
• Has a terminal illness
• Has a Very Seriously Injured or Ill (VSI) or Seriously Injured or Ill (SI) status from the Defense Department
• Is age 85 or older
• Is a former prisoner of war
• Is a Medal of Honor or Purple Heart recipient

The request can go in with or without supporting evidence, though VA encourages including some. For a claimant 85 or older, the form's instructions name a date of birth as the evidence.5 A parent in their late 80s with a terminal diagnosis may fit two descriptions; medical evidence of the terminal illness is the evidence VA lists for that one.

One rule about the online version: VA.gov says a person filling out the online request on someone else's behalf needs VA Form 21-22 (for an accredited VSO representative) or VA Form 21-22a (for an accredited attorney or claims agent) to show permission to receive information about the claim or to sign for the person.5 How to find an accredited representative is covered in the help section below.

When Your Parent Can't Get to the Claim Exam

VA asks a claimant to have a claim exam, often called a C&P exam, only when it needs more information to decide the claim. Under 38 CFR 3.326, a hospital or examination report from a government or private institution, or a statement from a private physician, may be accepted for rating a claim without a further exam, as long as it's otherwise adequate for rating.12 VA's claim exam page also describes an Acceptable Clinical Evidence (ACE) process: if the file holds enough medical evidence to support the claim, VA reviews the records and asks for more evidence if needed instead of asking for an exam.12 For a parent who is bedbound or in a nursing home, a thorough letter from the treating doctor sent with the claim gives VA the best chance to decide on the records.

If VA does schedule an exam and the date won't work, VA says to tell the VA medical center or contractor at least 48 hours ahead, and that rescheduling may delay the claim. An exam with a contractor can be rescheduled only once, to a new appointment within 5 days of the original. A veteran who isn't available in those 5 days tells the contractor and then calls VA, which starts the process again when the veteran is available.12

What happens if the exam is missed depends on the reason and the type of claim. Under 38 CFR 3.655, when a claimant fails to report without good cause for an exam scheduled on an original compensation claim, VA rates the claim on the evidence already in the file.13 The regulation gives illness or hospitalization of the claimant and the death of an immediate family member as examples of good cause, and that list isn't exhaustive. VA's claim exam page adds homelessness and terminal illness to its examples and says VA will schedule a new appointment when a veteran misses the exam for what VA considers good cause. You can explain the reason by phone, by uploading a letter through VA's online claim status tool, or by mail to VA's Evidence Intake Center.13 For the phone route, VA's benefits hotline is 800-827-1000 (TTY: 711), staffed Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET.14,15

Getting Free Help With the Claim

You don't have to do this alone, and you shouldn't pay to file. Under 38 U.S.C. 5901(a), only a person recognized by VA may act as an agent or attorney in preparing or presenting a VA claim. VA accredits three kinds of helpers: representatives of VA-recognized Veterans Service Organizations, claims agents, and attorneys, and VA says VSO representatives always provide their services on benefit claims free of charge.6 You can check anyone's accreditation with the VA accreditation search.

Under 38 U.S.C. 5904(c)(1), accredited agents and attorneys may not charge a fee for work done before the claimant gets notice of VA's initial decision. VA puts it plainly: no one can charge a claimant for preparing or filing an application for benefits with VA without violating the law.6 Anyone asking for money up front to file your parent's first claim is a warning sign; our guide to free VA claims help and pension poaching shows how to tell the difference.

After the Decision, or If Your Parent Dies First

If VA decides your parent can't manage VA benefits, it follows the incompetency rules in 38 CFR 3.353, under which reasonable doubt about a beneficiary's mental capacity is resolved in favor of competency; our guide to the VA fiduciary program covers what happens next.16

If VA denies the claim, or you disagree with the rating, accredited attorneys and agents may charge a fee for appeal work done after the decision.6 Our guide to appealing a VA claim denial lays out the three review options and their deadlines.

With a parent in their late 80s, a claim can still be open when they die, and the work you've put into it doesn't have to be lost. If your parent dies while the claim is still pending, federal law, 38 U.S.C. 5121A, lets a living person who would be eligible to receive accrued benefits ask, within one year after the death, to be substituted as the claimant so the claim is processed to completion.17 A surviving spouse should also read our guides to Dependency and Indemnity Compensation and VA survivors benefits.

Learn More

Find personalized help sequencing a VA disability claim for your parent at brevy.com.

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.