The Veterans Law Library is a collection of guides on VA disability claims, ratings, TDIU, discharge upgrades, and estate planning for veterans, written by the attorneys at Valor Veterans Law. Browse by topic below or search for what you need.

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The Veterans Law Library

Straight answers on VA disability claims, ratings, discharge upgrades, and estate planning, written for the veterans living these fights. Open a topic below or search for what you need.

Week of October 12, 2026
The VA’s Watchdog Found Errors in a Third of Its Rating Cuts. Check Your Letter An oversight review found a substantial share of rating reductions were processed improperly, and what to look for if you received one. The Pentagon Is Finally Writing Blast Injury Standards. Your Future TBI Claim Depends on What Gets Logged Now New blast exposure tracking standards are being written, and in-service documentation is what a TBI claim will rest on years from now.
Week of October 5, 2026
The Justices Heard the Veterans Jurisdiction Case. Neither Side Walked Out Confident How argument went in the case over where Veterans can challenge VA benefits rules, and what the questioning suggested about the outcome. The STAR Act Has the Signatures to Force a Vote. The Vote Has to Wait for November The discharge petition cleared the threshold to force a floor vote on concurrent receipt, and what the November timeline means for medical retirees. The VA Raised the Burial Allowance. The Headline Number Isn’t the One Most Families Get The increase applies at different rates depending on the circumstances of death, and most families qualify for less than the figure being reported.
Week of September 28, 2026
Five Dates That Decide Things This Fall The deadlines and decision points coming this fall, and which ones actually require action from Veterans before they pass. The Sleep Apnea and Tinnitus Rewrite Missed Its Own Deadline The proposed rating changes for sleep apnea and tinnitus blew past their deadline, and where that leaves Veterans rated under the current criteria. A Court Found Veterans Guardian Took $250 Million. The VA Had Sent Two Letters What a court concluded about the fees this claim consultant collected, and how little stood in the way before it happened.
Week of September 21, 2026
The VA Says It Granted 60% of Claims. Nobody’s Talking About the Other 40% What the VA’s grant rate leaves out, what happens to the claims in the other category, and why a denial is not the end of the road. Trajector Filed for Bankruptcy to Stall the Lawsuits. Now the States Are Coming Where the claim consulting company’s bankruptcy filing leaves Veterans who paid it, and what state enforcement actions could mean next.
Week of September 14, 2026
Two Million Veterans Qualify Under the PACT Act and Haven’t Filed Millions of veterans are eligible for toxic exposure benefits they have never claimed, and what it takes to find out if you are one of them. The Supreme Court Hears the Veterans Jurisdiction Case October 5 Argument is set for October 5 in the case over where veterans can challenge VA benefits rules, and what the outcome could change.
Week of September 7, 2026
The Gulf War Presumptive Window Closes December 31. Document Now The presumptive period for certain Gulf War illnesses ends December 31, and what to document before it does.

Why VA Math Makes No Sense — and How It Actually Works How combined ratings are really calculated, why 50 + 30 doesn't equal 80, and what the "whole person" formula means for your check. How to Increase Your VA Disability Rating Without Accidentally Lowering It When to file for an increase, the real risk of a reduction, and how to pursue a higher rating without putting what you already have at risk. The VA Wants to Cut Your Rating: Here's How to Fight Back What a proposed rating reduction means, your rights when the VA moves to lower your rating, and how to push back and protect it. When Your Rating Becomes Untouchable: The 5, 10, and 20 Year Rules How long a rating has to be in place before the VA loses the ability to reduce or sever it, and what protection each milestone gives you. The VA Can't Rate You as if the Pills Fixed You: Ingram and the Medication Rule Why the VA generally can't lower your rating based on how well medication controls your symptoms, and how to spot when it happens anyway. Are VA Disability Ratings Changing in 2026? What's actually on the table for the VA rating schedule, what's just rumor, and what any of it could mean for your benefits. The Rating Schedule Rewrite Has a Deadline This Month: Where It Actually Stands Where the long-running rewrite of the VA rating schedule stands against its deadline, and which body systems are affected. The Sleep Apnea and Tinnitus Rewrite Missed Its Own Deadline The proposed rating changes for sleep apnea and tinnitus blew past their deadline, and where that leaves Veterans rated under the current criteria. The Watchdog Says the VA Rates You With 1945 Medicine. It’s Right A federal watchdog found much of the rating schedule still rests on 1945-era medicine, and it matters for how your conditions get rated today. The VA’s Watchdog Found Errors in a Third of Its Rating Cuts. Check Your Letter An oversight review found a substantial share of rating reductions were processed improperly, and what to look for if you received one. Congress Wants to Fund Concurrent Receipt by Rewriting Tinnitus and Sleep Apnea Ratings The proposal to pay for concurrent receipt by changing how tinnitus and sleep apnea are rated, and who stands to win or lose.

The Backdoor to 100%: How TDIU Pays You at the Top Rate Without a 100% Rating How Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability pays at the 100% rate even when your combined rating lands lower. TDIU: When the VA Admits You Can't Work, Even If the Math Says You Should What unemployability means, who qualifies, and how the VA decides whether you can hold substantially gainful employment. Working While on TDIU: The Marginal Employment Rules All the Way Down What kinds of work TDIU actually allows, how marginal employment is defined, and where veterans get tripped up earning while unemployable. TDIU and Social Security Disability: Two Systems, One Life How VA unemployability and SSDI differ, where evidence from one helps the other, and how to pursue both without contradicting yourself.

Your C-File: The Most Important Document Set You’ve Never Read What sits in your VA claims file, how to request a copy, and why reading it changes how you build every claim and appeal that follows. What a Nexus Letter Is — and Why It Can Make or Break a VA Claim What a nexus letter is, what makes one persuasive, and why it's often the difference between a grant and a denial. How to Write a Buddy Letter or Personal Statement How to write a buddy statement or personal statement that actually moves the needle instead of getting set aside. Your C&P Exam: What the VA Is Actually Scoring (and How Not to Get Steamrolled) What the examiner is really scoring, how to prepare, and how to avoid being underrated at your Compensation & Pension exam. Your Doctor Says Yes, the VA’s Examiner Says No. Who Wins? How the VA weighs your treating physician against its own examiner, and what makes a private opinion carry more weight.

PTSD and the VA: What You Actually Need to Know How the VA evaluates PTSD, what evidence carries weight, and what to expect from the claims and rating process. VA Disability for Depression and Anxiety: Ratings, Secondary Claims, and Why Yours Might Be Too Low How the VA rates depression and anxiety, how to claim them as secondary to another condition, and why these ratings so often come in too low. Ketamine, Psychedelics, and PTSD Where emerging treatments like ketamine and psychedelics fit into PTSD care, and what it means for veterans. The VA Is Putting Psilocybin Through a Real Trial: Here’s What PIVOT Actually Means What the VA’s PIVOT psilocybin study is actually testing, what it is not, and what it could eventually mean for PTSD treatment and claims. Researchers Are Testing a THC Pill for PTSD Nightmares: Here’s What’s Real What the research on a THC pill for PTSD nightmares actually shows so far, and what it could eventually mean for treatment. PACT Act Claims: What Changed, Why It Matters, and How to Use It What the PACT Act changed for toxic-exposure claims, which conditions are presumptive, and how to put it to work. The TBI Exams Post-9/11 Veterans Never Got, and What That Silence Costs Why many post-9/11 veterans never received proper TBI evaluations, and how that missing exam still costs them in ratings today. The Pentagon Is Finally Writing Blast Injury Standards. Your Future TBI Claim Depends on What Gets Logged Now New blast exposure tracking standards are being written, and in-service documentation is what a TBI claim will rest on years from now. A Bill Would Lock In the VA’s Prostate Cancer Program: Here’s Why Veterans Should Care What the proposed legislation would make permanent, and why it matters for veterans facing prostate cancer screening and treatment. The Gulf War Presumptive Window Closes December 31. Document Now The presumptive period for certain Gulf War illnesses ends December 31, and what to document before it does. Two Million Veterans Qualify Under the PACT Act and Haven’t Filed Millions of veterans are eligible for toxic exposure benefits they have never claimed, and what it takes to find out if you are one of them. The Military Is About to Screen Every Man Over 30 for Low Testosterone: What That Means for VA Claims Down the Road Why the new service-wide screening matters for future claims, in-service documentation of a condition is the foundation service connection is built on.

Get Your Records Before You File: The Paper Trail That Decides Your First Claim Which records to gather before filing, where to request them, and why the paper trail often decides the claim before the VA does. Guard and Reserve Veterans: Why Your First VA Claim Runs Differently How duty status, active duty periods, and line of duty determinations change what a Guard or Reserve Veteran has to prove on a first claim. VSO, Lawyer, or Do It Yourself? Who Should Actually Help With Your First Claim The honest differences between filing alone, using a VSO, and hiring a lawyer, and how to decide which is right for your first claim. A Court Just Hammered the Biggest Claim Coaching Company: Here’s the Lesson What a court just said about the biggest claim coaching operation, and what the ruling teaches about who should be helping with your claim. The Seven Mistakes That Sink First VA Claims The most common errors veterans make on a first claim, and how each one costs money, time, or the claim itself. When the VA Has to Assume in Your Favor: The Presumption Shortcut for First-Time Filers How presumptive service connection works, which conditions and service periods qualify, and why it can skip the hardest part of a first claim. How to Read Your First VA Decision Letter Before You Celebrate or Panic What each part of the decision letter actually says about your rating, your effective date, and what to do if something looks wrong. The VA Wants to Shrink Its Application Forms. Comment Now, File Anyway What the proposed changes to VA application forms would do, how to weigh in during the comment period, and why waiting to file is still a mistake. A New Order Targets Claim Delays for Troops Leaving Service What the new directive aims to fix for service members filing as they separate, and how to use the transition window to your advantage. Trajector Filed for Bankruptcy to Stall the Lawsuits. Now the States Are Coming Where the claim consulting company’s bankruptcy filing leaves Veterans who paid it, and what state enforcement actions could mean next. A Court Found Veterans Guardian Took $250 Million. The VA Had Sent Two Letters What a court concluded about the fees this claim consultant collected, and how little stood in the way before it happened. The VA Says It Granted 60% of Claims. Nobody’s Talking About the Other 40% What the VA’s grant rate leaves out, what happens to the claims in the other category, and why a denial is not the end of the road.

What Actually Happens After You File a VA Disability Claim A plain walk through each stage of the claim process after you file, what the VA is doing, and what to expect at each step. What Your VA Claim Tracker Is Actually Telling You How to read VA.gov status updates, what each stage really means, and when the tracker is quietly misleading you. Your Case Got Remanded. That’s Not a Win, and It’s Not a Loss What a remand actually means, what happens to your case next, and how to use the time instead of just waiting. The VA Closed 90,000 Appeals by Mistake. Some Veterans Have to Ask to Get Theirs Back How tens of thousands of appeals were closed in error, and why some veterans must affirmatively ask to have theirs reinstated. Software Is Reading Your Claim Now. What That Changes How automated review is being used on VA claims, what it speeds up, and where it raises the stakes on how your evidence is presented. The Backlog Is Shrinking, Denials Are Rising: Read Your Decision Accordingly Why faster VA decisions are coming with more denials, and why a denial in this environment deserves a harder look before you accept it. The VA’s Fiscal Year Ends September 30. Your Claim Is Sitting in That Push What the end-of-fiscal-year production push means for pending claims, and why decisions issued in that window deserve a closer read. Five Dates That Decide Things This Fall The deadlines and decision points coming this fall, and which ones actually require action from Veterans before they pass. Your Effective Date Is Worth More Than Your Rating: Here's Why Why the date your benefits start can matter more than the rating itself, how effective dates are set, and where the VA gets them wrong. How VA Back Pay Is Calculated How the VA works out retroactive pay from the effective date forward, and the pieces that decide how large the award turns out to be. What the VA's New Attorney Fee Numbers Don't Tell You What the VA's published attorney-fee figures leave out, and how to think clearly about the real cost of representation. The VA Can't Silently Deny You Anymore How claims used to disappear without a real decision, what changed, and what it means when the VA never squarely ruled on your issue. CUE: The One Way to Reopen a VA Decision From Decades Ago What clear and unmistakable error means, why it can undo a final VA decision from decades back, and what it takes to prove one. Nehmer: The 35-Year-Old Court Order That Still Pays Vietnam Veterans Today How the Nehmer class action still forces the VA to revisit Agent Orange denials and pay retroactive benefits decades later. Davis v. Collins: Raise the Date on Every Issue or Risk Losing It What Davis v. Collins says about arguing the effective date on every issue you appeal, and the money left behind when veterans don’t. Taking the VA to Actual Court: The CAVC Explained What the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims is, when a case can go there, and how court review differs from everything before it. Stationed in Colorado? The Toxic Exposure Story at Carson, Peterson, Buckley, and the Academy The contamination history at Colorado installations, and what it means for exposure-based claims and appeals from veterans who served there.

Bad Paper Isn't a Life Sentence: How Discharge Upgrades Actually Work How discharge upgrades work, who's eligible, and why a less-than-honorable characterization doesn't have to be permanent. Your Discharge Says More Than Honorable or Not: Narrative Reasons, Separation Codes, and RE Codes The parts of your DD-214 beyond the characterization, narrative reasons, separation codes, and RE codes, and why they can be changed too. The Courts Caught the Discharge Boards Ignoring Mental Health: Here's What That Means for Your Case How courts have called out discharge boards for brushing past mental health evidence, and what that shift means for your upgrade case. What a Winning Discharge Upgrade Packet Actually Looks Like The pieces of a persuasive upgrade application, records, statements, evidence of rehabilitation, and how they fit together to win. Should You Appear Before the Discharge Board? The Hearing Decision Explained When a personal appearance helps an upgrade case, when a records-only review is the smarter play, and how to make the call. You Won the Upgrade. Now Collect What It Unlocked The benefits an upgrade opens up, from VA compensation to education and health care, and the steps to actually claim them. Bad Conduct and Dishonorable Discharges: What Can Actually Be Done The honest picture for punitive discharges, what the boards can and can't change, and the paths that still exist for the hardest cases. Discharged for Being Gay: The Upgrade Path for DADT-Era Veterans The routes available to veterans separated under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and earlier policies, and what an upgrade restores. Discharged Over the COVID Vaccine? Your Record Can Be Fixed Whether or Not You Go Back In What correction is available to Veterans separated over the vaccine mandate, and why fixing the record matters even without reinstatement. When the Correction Board Says No: Taking a BCMR Denial to Federal Court What happens after a records correction board denies you, and how federal court review of a BCMR decision actually works. MEB vs PEB: Which Board Decides Separation or Retirement What the medical and physical evaluation boards each do, where the separation or retirement decision is actually made, and where to push. The PEB Said You’re Fit for Duty. Here’s How That Finding Gets Challenged What a fit-for-duty finding means, the evidence that undercuts it, and the process for challenging the board’s conclusion. Medically Separated When You Should Have Been Retired The difference between medical separation and medical retirement, why the distinction is worth thousands, and how to correct a wrong call. On the TDRL? How Not to Lose Your Retirement at Reevaluation How temporary disability retirement reevaluations work, what's at stake at each one, and how to protect your permanent retirement. The Double Dip Is Almost Real: What the STAR Act Would Mean for Medical Retirees What the STAR Act proposes for concurrent receipt, which medical retirees would benefit, and where the legislation actually stands. The STAR Act Has the Signatures to Force a Vote. The Vote Has to Wait for November The discharge petition cleared the threshold to force a floor vote on concurrent receipt, and what the November timeline means for medical retirees. Two Rulings Just Rewrote Combat-Related Pay: Soto, Smoke, and the Money DoD Owes Retirees How the Soto and Smoke decisions changed combat-related special compensation, and why retirees may be owed back pay.

Your VA Claim Doesn't Have to Die With You What happens to a pending VA claim when a veteran passes, and how survivors can step in to keep it alive and collect what's owed. The Estate Planning Moves That Can Cost a Veteran Their VA Benefits Common estate planning steps that can quietly jeopardize VA benefits, and how to plan your estate without putting them at risk. Will or Trust? The Estate Planning Question Every Veteran Household Eventually Faces The real differences between a will and a trust, what each does and doesn't cover, and how veteran households should think through the choice. The Gun Safe Is Part of the Estate: Firearms, Wills, and Gun Trusts for Veterans Why firearms need special handling in an estate plan, where wills fall short, and when a gun trust is the right tool. Leaving Money to Someone on Benefits: Special Needs Trusts for Veteran Families How an inheritance can accidentally cut off a loved one's benefits, and how a special needs trust lets you provide for them without that risk. The Documents That Work While You're Alive: Powers of Attorney and Directives for Veterans Why powers of attorney and advance directives matter as much as a will, what each does, and why veterans shouldn't wait to put them in place. Who Runs Your Estate Plan When You Can’t: Choosing the People, Not Just the Documents Picking an agent, trustee, or executor is as consequential as the documents themselves, and this covers how to choose well. Your Family Care Plan Isn’t a Will: Who Raises Your Kids If You Don’t Come Home A Family Care Plan satisfies the command; it does not decide guardianship. What the two documents each do, and why service members need both. Your Estate Plan Has an Expiration Date: When Veterans Need to Redo the Will and Trust The life events that quietly outdate a will or trust, moves, marriages, ratings changes, and when it's time to revisit the plan. The Second Marriage Estate Plan: Protecting a Spouse and Children From a First Marriage How to provide for a current spouse without disinheriting children from a prior marriage, and the tools that keep both sides secure. Funding the Trust A trust only works if assets are actually moved into it, and this covers what funding involves and what happens when it is skipped.

Special Monthly Compensation: The VA Benefit Most Veterans Don't Know They Qualify For What SMC is, the situations that trigger it, and why many veterans are owed this higher level of pay without realizing it. VA Aid and Attendance: Who Qualifies, What It Pays, and How to Apply Who qualifies for this added pension benefit, what it pays, and how to apply without getting tripped up. DIC: The Monthly Benefit for Survivors and the Two Ways to Qualify What Dependency and Indemnity Compensation pays surviving spouses and dependents, and the two distinct paths to qualifying for it. The VA Raised the Burial Allowance. The Headline Number Isn’t the One Most Families Get The increase applies at different rates depending on the circumstances of death, and most families qualify for less than the figure being reported. The VA Quietly Changed How Survivor Claims Get Paid: What Families Should Know A quiet change to how survivor claims are processed and paid, and what surviving spouses and families should do about it. The Supreme Court Will Decide Where Veterans Can Challenge Benefits Laws The case now before the Supreme Court over which courts can hear challenges to VA benefits rules, and what hangs on the answer. The Supreme Court Hears the Veterans Jurisdiction Case October 5 Argument is set for October 5 in the case over where veterans can challenge VA benefits rules, and what the outcome could change. The Justices Heard the Veterans Jurisdiction Case. Neither Side Walked Out Confident How argument went in the case over where Veterans can challenge VA benefits rules, and what the questioning suggested about the outcome.
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This library is provided by Valor Veterans Law, PLLC for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading these articles does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different; for guidance on your specific situation, consult a licensed attorney.