PREC 1-01    Consideration of Retroactive Compensation Award in Determining Estate of Veteran for Purposes of $1,500     Citation: Vet.Aff. Op. Gen.Couns.Prec. 1-01, VAOPGCPREC 1-01, 2001 

Should a retroactive award of compensation that results from a finding of clear and unmistakable error (CUE) be retroactively attributed to the estate of a veteran for purposes of determining whether 38 U.S.C. § 5503 and 38 C.F.R. § 3.557 bar payment of compensation to the veteran for a prior period during which the veteran was hospitalized at government expense?

Prior to a recent statutory amendment, the provisions of 38 U.S.C. § 5503(b)(1)(A) and 38 C.F.R. § 3.557(b) required that compensation not be paid in the case of an incompetent veteran without spouse or child who is being furnished hospital treatment or institutional or domiciliary care at government expense when the veteran’s estate exceeds $1,500, until such time as the estate is reduced to $500. A retroactive award of compensation based on a finding of clear and unmistakable error in a prior decision denying service connection should not be retroactively attributed to the estate of the veteran for purposes of determining whether section 5503(b)(1)(A) and section 3.557(b) bar payment of compensation for the period subsequent to the effective date of the award of service connection and prior to the date of the veteran’s release from a government facility.