Military veterans with a service-connected disability rating of 10% or more are often eligible to receive VA disability compensation benefits. Veterans may be eligible to receive a higher compensation rate if they are rated at 30% or higher and have one or more dependents, including a spouse, child, or a parent in their care. Veterans with a service-connected disability rating of 20% or lower are not generally eligible for additional payments, except in limited circumstances.
How to Add or Remove a Dependent from your VA Disability Compensation Claim
The status of your dependents is recorded by the VA when they process your initial disability compensation claim, but they are not able to automatically make changes to your dependent’s status. It is up to you to notify the VA when something changes which affects the eligibility of your dependents – this can include both adding or removing one or more dependents from your VA disability compensation benefits. Some reasons for these changes in dependents status include a birth, adoption, or death, marriage or divorce, a child no longer being eligible due to age restrictions, marriage, or other restrictions, adding a parent to your claim, etc.
When these changes occur, you need to contact the VA with this information so they can update your file. Keep in mind this may either increase or decrease your compensation rate, and in some cases, the benefits will be back dated to the effective date. This can result in an overpayment in which the recipient has received more money than they were eligible for, or they could receive a higher one time payment to make up the shortfall. The sooner you notify the VA, the better. It’s also important to note that when adding a child due to a birth or adoption, you need to wait until you have their Social Security Number before filing your claim. So you may need to wait a couple months from the time of birth before you can add your new dependent.
Change Declaration of Status of Dependents for VA Compensation Benefits
There are two ways to change the status of your dependents:
- Paper via VA Form 21-686c, Declaration of Status of Dependents, or
- Electronically via VONAPP
VA Form 21-686c, Declaration of Status of Dependents. VA Form 21-686c is a two page paper form, which according to the VA, should take approximately 15 minutes to fill out. The form is fairly straight forward, and requests the standard information, such as the veteran’s personal information and VA File number, marriage status, information regarding your unmarried children, including their name, SSN, age, schooling status, etc. Then you simply need to sign the form and mail it in to the VA center which handles your claim.
You can download the form here: VA Form 21-686c (pdf).
VONAPP. The VA is making an effort to move more features and services online, which is faster and less costly in the long run. That is where Veterans On Line Applications (VONAPP) comes in. Veterans are now able to use VONAPP to apply for VA compensation, pension, education, vocational rehabilitation and employment, burial benefits, and more. Veterans can also use this online tool to update the status of their dependents, file claims for increases in service-connected disabilities, add disabilities, and more.
Questions about submitting online forms:
- Should I file a paper form and via VONAPP? No – choose one or the other. The electronic form may be processed more quickly, provided all the information is complete. Otherwise, there is no difference between the forms, and submitting multiple claims can delay the process.
- How do I sign it? Some forms require veterans to certify the information they entered is accurate – this serves as your signature. VA Form 21-686c is included in this list of forms which can be “electronically” signed.
- How do I follow up with my claim? The VA automatically sends an e-mail when they receive your claim, and another when your claim is downloaded and the claim is being processed. The information includes your name, date of submission, and which regional VA office received your form (including their contact information). You should contact the regional VA center which is processing your claim for more information or updates on the status of your claim.
- More VONAPP Claims FAQs.
Find more information at the VONAPP Home Page.
Want to learn more about filing your claim online? Check out our tutorials on how to create a VONAPP account and how to file a claim with VONAPP.
I can’t stress enough how important it is to file these changes as soon as they occur. The last thing you want to happen is to receive an overpayment to your VA compensation benefits for several months, only to have the money deducted from future payments.
Comments
I submitted my paperwork to add my dependents in June 2011. I still have not received any follow up and the status on ebenefits says “under review” and a estimated completion date of 4/8/12. It is currently 12/18/12, why does it take so long and is there a way to speed it up?
Ryan wrote, “The status of your dependents is recorded by the VA when they process your initial disability compensation claim, but they are not able to automatically make changes to your dependent’s status. It is up to you to notify the VA when something changes which affects the eligibility of your dependents – this can include both adding or removing one or more dependents from your VA disability compensation benefits.”
This is not entirely true. I filled out my 21-686c when I made my initial claim, but the VA assumes after years of your claim sitting and collecting dust, that you’ve become divorced, or your children have grown past 18 (or died themselves…) and, in my case at least, they make you resubmit the 686c. Thanks, so now my new dependency claim gets to await another 14+ months at least before approval. I wonder if they’ll make me resubmit a second time after it has taken so long again!
I wasn’t aware the VA required people to resubmit a dependents claim form. Thanks for the information.
I just got married and submitted the form over the Internet. I wonder how long it will take me to see an increase in benefits. I am currently rated 70 percent SC due to injuries overseas a few years ago. i hope its quicker than the initial phase to get the benefits.
My question is what happens to a veteran receiving disability money but he has kept his ex wife and son on and altered his marriage license to his current wife and submitted that to the VA. The marriage license to his current wife was altered to reflect 3 years of marriage instead of the correct and legal 10 ears. What if he also lied by saying her resided with his ex and son, but in actuality was living for the past 15 years with his current wife. The current wife just found out and the couple now live in another state as well. Is this an interstate issue now, and is the current wife liable even she just became aware of the duplicitous act? What should she do she’s petrified. Se has the legal license and a copy of the prior divorce which occurred in 1999, he’s live with his current wife since 1998 and married her in 2003
Good day Ryan, My daughter turned 18 in Jan 2011 during her senior year of high school, she graduated in June 2011. She entered college in Sept 2011, and is now a sophomore. I wasn’t aware that she was dropped from my disability claim. I submitted the form to have her reinstated, but VA never received it, so I resubmitted in may 2012. A VA representative informed me that I filed after a year of her being dropped, so that I would only receive back compensation from may 2012. You mentioned that in some cases you can receive I assume full compensation. Can you please add any insight on this? Thank you.
Kenneth, Backdating for pay usually only happens back to the date you filed a claim that the VA accepts. For example, say you file a claim on January 2012 and the VA accepts it on July 2012, they would normally give you back pay to that January. In this case, the VA doesn’t have a record of your previous claim, so they would only backdate your pay to the claim they received and accepted, which was May 2012. The only way I know that you might be able to get back pay to a previous date would be if you had a record of the prior claim you sent, such as a digital receipt if you filed electronically, or something similar.
Thank you ryan
It looks as though I am going to lose out on a couple months, because I won’t be able to find the proof that I had submitted earlier. Lesson to all register all important mail that you send someone, or keep a digital copy of all electronic correspondences. Thanks again
I originally filed to have my three kids added to my compensation back in 2009. They said I need to submit proof that they were my kids…ie birth certificates. So I did and I kept getting the run around that they did not receive the documents and I eventually just completely forgot about it. Fast forward to now. I refilled to add them in June of 2011. Well I just received the same notice I did the first time requesting proof (7 months later). So this time, I made sure they received the documents. Now they are telling me that it could take another four months to get this completed. Are you kidding me????? So it’s going to take a year to add dependents to my compensation….. not counting the two years I’ve waited to have them even receive the documents I’ve sent over and over again.
To say the least, I’m fed up with this kind of work ethic from the VA. Yes I understand that they have thousands upon thousands of Vets that they are taking care of, but does that stop any corporation or business that has thousands of customers from completing the simplest of tasks in a timely manner? The answer is no, because if they did they wouldn’t be in business. Now I can understand an actual compensation claim taking longer because they have to have their medical review board look everything over and make a determination…. But an entire year to just add dependents… Really?
And one more thing, and this one really gets me…. My wife who is also a veteran and who has been given a disability rating filed to have our kids added as dependents a little before mine and was never asked a single time to prove any sort of proof that they actually are her kids…. Her claim flew through, was back-dated until the day they were born with no questions asked. Yet I have to submit proof that they are my kids. Does that make sense? It really doesn’t to me.
Is there anyone, other than my congressperson who I can get this stuff to and hopefully move this along? Or are we all just doomed to be treated like our claims and issues are just not important to them? I really could use any kind of help to get this finished before June as they are saying it is going to take.
Thank you for reading/helping….
A vet you feels that the people who should care really…..well just don’t.
Had my babies 4-2-12 and their fixing to turn a year old. Filed the claim right after they were born I even sent them their birth certificates and socials. I sent the form in like 3 times to get it sped up. Still nothing. I also submitted it voa DONAPP and called them. Nothing!! WTH?? How long does this take?? And yes i had triplets. What do they need? A pic for proof?
I know exactly how the rest of you feel. I filed my claims back in May 2011 and was told that one of the issues I had claimed was defered. So months go by and I got letters that they were still working on it. Few more months go by and I got a letter asking for what hospital those records would be at and any information I had about that specific claim. They also wanted a wittness signature. So I filled it all out with the signature and sent it back. Of course I made sure to make a copy first. Then later in the fall of 2012 I get another letter same as the very first one I got way back in 2011 when I first filed everything stating they received my claim and where to send any additional information. Seriously???????!!!! I have done that twice already! If I email or call about it I am told it takes time we are backed up. Wth? It has been two years! I just going to call my Va Rep, and all state county offices in my area i.e. congress because two years is unsat. Makes me think of the Dr. Phil show I saw. If you haven’t seen it I strongly suggest you do.
I was trying to get my benefits going. I went to the V A office and got my picture taken for my I.D. card. It’s been a couple of months and still no card. Do I need to go back over there?
George, I would try calling them to ask how long it usually takes to get your ID Card. IT shouldn’t take that long, but they may have had an issue or a backlog. Best of luck, and thanks for your service!
Hi there. 11 months just to add a dependent, and as of today, nothing yet. It’s incredible how this system works. This type of claim should take no more than 6 months, not a year and a half!
The compensation for my son was automatically stopped the month after his 18th birthday, but he started college the next semester after high school. I went to the regional office in Atlanta and completed the proper paper work. How long does it take to be reinstated?
Efrem, Unfortunately, I don’t have a firm answer for you. I’ve heard some people are able to get it reinstated quickly, while in other cases, it can take several months. My recommendation is to wait a month or two and them contact your regional center if you haven’t heard back.
i have one son on my compensation and disability. i recently was blessed with another boy jan 23 2012. unfortunately his mother and i aren’t together, but regardless we were never married. todays date is may 4th 2013. if i finally add him as my dependent, would i get back pay from when he was born, or when i filed?
and also can i be the noncustodial parent and still receive? even if both their mothers claim him as a dependent? it would be amazing if anybody could help! thanks,
theodore
Theodore- I’m not really sure if you can claim your son if you do not have custody… I would assume you can but what makes sense with the VA????
As for being back paid until he was born, I’m not really sure about that either… you see my ex-wife (an Army vet) claimed all three of our kids (two hers and one mine) and she was paid back pay from the day they were born… and they were 2, 3 and 4 at the time….. Now get this….. when I filled out the paperwork to claim them, I was only paid from the date that I filed to add them to my disability. How does that work!?!?!?!? Not only that, but she was never asked to prove any kind of relationship and prove they were hers…. but yet I had have to. It is a very sexist system.
That’s crazy. .I wonder why…well thanks for the effort, if you hear of anything else let me know asap!
Is the VA Form 21-686c no longer available on VONAPP? Today it was not in the drop-down box.
If a child does not live with the veteran, can the veteran still receive compensation for them?
Ray, generally not, unless the veteran is the primary provider of financial support. In this case, I recommend contacting the VA for verification.