August 2025 - Federal Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for Federal Circuit

Wright v. Collins (20-2154) | Decided August 1, 2025

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reviewed CAVC’s affirmance of a veteran’s appeal wherein he requested for compensation for his adult child under 38 U.S.C. § 1115(1)(F) on the ground that he was precluded by 38 U.S.C. § 3562(2) from receiving that compensation once his daughter elected to receive direct benefits pursuant to the Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance (“DEA”) program. The Federal Circuit considered the following for statutory interpretation: (1) whether section 3562 bars a disabled veteran from receiving additional compensation under section 1115(1)(F) once the veteran’s child begins receiving DEA benefits and (2) whether, assuming that section 3562 does operate in this way, the bar may be lifted when the disabled veteran’s child exhausts his or her DEA benefits.

The Federal Circuit respectively held (1) that the nonduplication provision of section 3562 bars a disabled veteran from receiving additional compensation under section 1115(1)(F) once his or her child elects to receive DEA benefits and (2) the statute clearly imposes a permanent bar on a veteran’s receipt of additional compensation under section 1115(1)(F) once his or her child begins to receive DEA benefits.