NEHMER CLAIMS – AGENT ORANGE

If you are a Veteran who served in the Republic of Vietnam and you previously applied between September 25, 1985-August 31, 2010 for, and were denied benefits based on your claim of service connected compensation for ISCHEMIC HEART DISEASE, CHRNOIC B-CELL LEUKEMIA, or PARKINSON’S DISEASE, you may be eligible for benefits to paid retroactively to the date or your original claim! CLICK HERE FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF ALL ILLNESSES AND DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ORANGE ILLNESSES If you filed a claim with the VA and was denied benefits between September 25, 1985 – August 31, 2010 related to agent orange CALL US AT OUR TOLL FREE NUMBER NATION WIDE AT (866) 410-3126 AND WE CAN HELP YOU TODAY
BACKGROUND

In 1986, a class of Vietnam Veterans and their survivors brought a lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs, claiming that the VA had improperly denied their claims for service-connected compensation for disabilities that they believed were caused by their exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam conflict. In 1989, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California ruled in favor of the veterans, and in 1991, a Final Stipulation and Order was entered outlining the VA’s responsibility to the class of eligible veterans.
THE COURT ORDER PROVIDED THE FOLLOWING:

1) The VA would issue new regulations in accordance with the Agent Orange Act of 1991
2) After the issuance of the new regulations, the VA would be required to readjudicate the claims where a prior denial was voided by the Court’s 1989 order and would initially adjudicate all similar claims filed subsequent to the Court’s order
3) If benefits were awarded upon such readjudication or adjudication, the effective date of the award would be the later of the date the claim was filed or the date the disablity arose.
The court then provided clarification in 2000 that the VA must also pay the full retroactive benefit to the estates of deceased class members.
ARE YOU A NEHMER CLASS MEMBER?

38 C.F.R. § 3.816(b)(1) defines the class members as:
i. Vietnam Veteran who has a covered herbicide disease
ii. Surviving spouse, child, or parent of a deceased Vietnam Veteran who died from a covered herbicide disease.
38 C.F.R. § 3.816(f)(1) states that if a Nehmer class member entitled to retroactive benefits…dies prior to receiving payment of any such benefits, VA shall pay such unpaid retroactive benefits to the first individual or entity listed below that is in existence at the time of payments:
i. The class member’s spouse, regardless of current marital status
a. A spouse is the person who was legally married to the class member at the time of the class member’s death.
ii. The class member’s child(ren), regardless of age or marital status
a. If more than one child exists, payment of the retroactive benefits owed shall be divided into equal shares, and accompanied by an explanation of the dividsion; this includes all children, regardless of age or marital status
iii. The class member’s parent(s), regardless of dependency
a. If both parents are alive, half of the retroactive benefits owed shall be paid to each parent, and accompanied by an explanation of the division.
iv. The class member’s estate.
HOW WE CAN HELP?

If you think that you or a loved one is a potential Nehmer class member, you or the loved one may be eligible for thousands of dollars in retroactive benefits. We can help you navigate the process of obtaining the benefits that you are owed. Please contact our office immediately at our toll free number (866) 410-3126 to find out if you are a Nehmer class member and how we can help you apply for the benefits that you are owed from your service for this country.

HOW WE CAN HELP?

If you think that you or a loved one is a potential Nehmer class member, you or the loved one may be eligible for thousands of dollars in retroactive benefits. We can help you navigate the process of obtaining the benefits what you are owed. Please contact our office immediately, at our toll free number of (866) 410-3126 to find out if you are a Nehmer class member and how we can help you apply for the benefits that you are owed from your service for this country. If you are the spouce, children or parents of a deceased Vietnam Veteran who died from an Agent Orange Illness you may be entitled to benefits as well.
SERVICE CONNECTED COMPENSATION

Service connected compensation is available to Veterans regardless of net worth. To be eligible for service connected compensation, the Veteran must have been dismissed from service for any reason other than a “dishonorable” discharge. Unless the Veteran has a condition defined as “presumptive” by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the claimant must show a nexus between the condition and the military service.
VETERAN’S DISABILITY COMPENSATION

To be eligible for Veteran’s Disability Compensation, a veteran must have an injury or illness that incurred in or was aggravated by active duty, active duty during training, or occurred in the line of duty during inactive duty training.
DEPENDENCY AND INDEMNITY COMPENSATION (DIC)

Dependency and Indemnity Compensation is a benefit paid monthly to eligible survivors of:
1) A military service member who died while on active duty, OR
2) A veteran whose death resulted from a service-related injury or disease, OR
3) A veteran whose death resulted from a non-service related injury or disease, OR
4) A veteran whose death resulted from a non-service related injury or disease, and who was receiving, or was entitled to receive, VA Compensation for service-connected disability that was rated as totally disabling
a. For at least 10 years immediately before death, OR
b. Since the veteran’s release from active duty and for at least five years immediately preceding death, OR
c. For at least one year before death if the veteran was a former prisoner of war who died after September 30, 1999.
A surviving spouse is eligible to collect these benefits on behalf of the deceased Veteran, but the VA requires that the surviving spouse was married to the veteran for at least one year or had a child by the veteran if married less than one year. The VA also requires that the surviving spouse must have been married to the veteran at the time of the veteran’s death, and that the surviving spouse was living with the veteran at the time of the veteran’s death unless the separation was due to military, medical, fault of the veteran, or other proven necessity reason.
The basic monthly rate of dependency and indemnity compensation is $1,195 for an eligible surviving spouse, and increases for each dependent child. This benefit is also increased if the surviving spouse is otherwise be eligible for the aid and attendance pension.
Surviving children are eligible to receive dependency and indemnity compensation if he/she is not included on the surviving spouse’s benefits, is unmarried, and under the age of 18, or between the ages of 18-23 and still attending school.
Surviving parents may be eligible for dependency and indemnity compensation based on the parent’s income.
APPEALS

If you applied for benefits and were wrongly denied, you have one year from the date of the VA decision to submit a Notice of Disagreement. However, when the VA issues a Statement of the Case, which is a detailed explanation as to why the claim was denied, the claimant has only 60 days to file Form VA9, which is the official appeal before the Board of Veterans Appeals.