Claim procedure path map

September 8 completion pass: payment, notices and development exceptions

13 additional saved procedures cover child fiduciary payments, existing institutional awards, apportionment, separation recoupment, drill pay, military retired pay, adverse-action notices, RO hearings, contested claims, returned mail, presumptions, effective-date evidence and foreign jurisdiction. Their 19 supporting articles have explanations of all 472 numbered blocks.

These are bounded procedures within broader families. A later pass added apportionment maintenance, garnishment, tort offsets, foreign evidence and foreign payment reviews, supported by six more complete article explanations (118 numbered blocks). Every condition-specific presumption and historical award exception still needs its own authority. Final adjudication, real system transactions, live policy changes and pension/survivor expansion are not certified complete.

Specialized labels and procedures provides a separate searchable label index. An indexed label is not a completed procedure; each entry identifies its current coverage.

Compensation first; pension and survivor benefits mapped for later. This is a family-level implementation map, not an exhaustive rule graph.

Current focus: claim establishment, development and awards/payments. Rating guidance is included where it identifies needed evidence, a required decision-activity referral or an award consequence.

Claim controls and review development: Increase and competing review elections, withdrawals and reinstatement, tracked items and readiness, lost/duplicate records, and Board development and implementation now have saved guided questions. Five more M21-1 articles have full explanations (51 blocks); M21-5 Chapter 4 has a captured original and explanations for 24 blocks in topics 2, 4 and 5. Full legacy/Board appeal administration, authorized consolidation transactions and all payment calculations remain separate work.

EP 040 development returns: Seven exact compensation labels now open five saved stages in Claim review. HLR errors, AMA differences of opinion, Board remands and CO differences of opinion retain their separate authorities, dates, notification and compliance requirements. The full captured M21-5 Chapter 5 is available offline with 17 selected development explanations; 12 CO passages also have scoped explanations. Other benefits, unusual jurisdiction and historical exceptions remain separate.

Intake and establishment: Receipt, signatures, form versions, controls and jurisdiction, ITF acceptance and corrections, and Section 5103 notice have guided questions and linked explanations. Incorrectly established claims also have guided correction paths. Five governing articles have full explanations of all 84 numbered blocks. Historical exceptions, ambiguous mixed-EP correction steps, unlisted mission conflicts and exact system transactions still have specific source procedures.

Records and claimant development: New guided reviews cover STR coverage/certification, personnel and clinical sources, fire reconstruction, Military Records Specialist referrals, supplemental service records, relevance and third-party disclosure, claimant responses, telephone payment information and continued-eligibility certification. Three complete article explanations cover III.i.2.C–E. The detailed special repositories, system transactions and benefit-specific payment/hearing procedures remain source handoffs.

42 procedure families are listed below. The captured library contains 455 current-at-capture M21 articles, 13,555 headings, and 0 uncaptured URLs. Individual headings and decision-table rows still require rule-by-rule mapping. These counts are an inventory, not a completion percentage.

  1. Review the claim using the common opening questions.
  2. Identify each issue and its applicable procedures and theories.
  3. Link development requests to all affected issues.
  4. Review each response, missing portion, new source, or supported stopping condition.
  5. Return to issue review, then apply decision, authorization, and notice procedures. Reopen affected reviews when facts change.

SMC and temporary evaluations: Guided questions and scoped explanations now cover aid and attendance, housebound, loss findings, TBI, spouse allowance, combination/calculator review, hospitalization, convalescence, prestabilization and diagnostic-code temporary totals. Exact rate matrices, historical cases, authorized absences, payment dates and final rating findings retain their specific source procedures. These families remain partial.

EP 040 in Claim review: Claimant-filed compensation supplemental issues now have seven ordered, saved steps in the main review. Linked records, examination and supporting reviews return to the same issue; changed answers reopen affected later checks. Board/HLR duty-to-assist returns, differences of opinion and other benefits are separate paths. The full EP 040 family remains partial.

Applications and supplemental claims: Guided form/completeness checks, MST/exposure clarification, correction-date review, potentially-new evidence, assistance, NRE decisions, notice, examination return, ITF/pursuit and favorable findings are available. Detailed lane jurisdiction, historical and benefit-specific exceptions remain manual work. Three governing articles have full numbered explanations.

How a path will be checked for thoroughness

Claim

1. Shared opening reviewQuestions implemented for the listed scope; exceptions and linked rules may remain
  • Correct file
  • submission
  • receipt
  • representation
  • controls
  • application
  • service review

Open current guidance → · Return to EP label and requested action

Article references identified; this does not establish review of every rule in the article.

2. EP label and requested actionSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • 110 / 010 initial
  • 020 new or increase
  • 040 rating or other supplemental
  • 290 administrative
  • 330 dependency
  • 600 proposal
  • 400 correspondence
  • other label

Open current guidance → · Return to Identify separate issues and overlapping theories

Article references identified; this does not establish review of every rule in the article.

3. Identify separate issues and overlapping theoriesSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • Claimed issues
  • required ancillary issues
  • multiple theories on one issue
  • shared evidence
  • issue scope unresolved

Open current guidance → · Return to Determine relevant evidence and duty to assist

Article references identified; this does not establish review of every rule in the article.

Issue intake

4. Application and substantial completenessSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • Modern form and signature exceptions
  • Exposure-only and MST clarification
  • Incomplete notice and EP 400 correction
  • 60-day versus one-year preservation
  • Receipt and ITF-control distinctions
  • Chronic unclaimed disability solicitation
  • Manual benefit-specific and historical exceptions
  • Receipt evidence, missing stamps, signature authenticity and alternate signers
  • Outdated/discontinued forms and month-end acceptance exceptions
  • Initial EP history/contention checks, hearing controls and automation review
  • ITF acceptance, same-day sequences, timeliness, consumption and corrections
  • General/special notice exceptions, custom letters and source-specific development
  • Compensation jurisdiction combinations, employee exceptions and FRC follow-up
  • Incorrect establishment: single/mixed EPs, decision status, ITF correction, contact, responses and guarded source ambiguity
  • Increase versus review application and competing same-issue elections
  • Initial-claim withdrawal/retraction with notice and running-award safeguards

Open current guidance → · Return to Determine relevant evidence and duty to assist

Listed common rules checked against the official article on 2026-09-07.

5. Supplemental claim and prior decisionsSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • Claimant-filed compensation 040: seven saved steps inside Claim review, linked requests and return to each issue
  • Same benefit/new theory versus 1151
  • Potentially new evidence and assistance
  • Incomplete supplemental correction
  • 5103 notice and certification
  • NRE threshold versus merits
  • Issue-specific examination handoff
  • ITF and continuous pursuit
  • Binding favorable findings
  • Manual jurisdiction and specific effective-date exceptions
  • Compensation HLR DTA, AMA difference of opinion, Board AMA remand and supervisory/CO difference of opinion: five saved steps per returned issue; original directives, controls, linked actions, compliance and authorized handoff

Open current guidance → · Return to Determine relevant evidence and duty to assist

Listed common rules checked against the official article on 2026-09-08.

6. Service eligibility and administrative decisionsSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • Saved service verification: acceptable records, VADIR, BDD, short service and certified travel
  • Saved COD sequence: prior finality, 2024 revised-law review, facts, approved notice and response opportunity
  • Saved bar and exception analysis: AWOL, GCM, moral turpitude, persistence and compelling circumstances
  • Saved insanity evidence development and required rating disposition
  • Saved conditional-service, discharge-upgrade and treatment-purpose reviews
  • Saved administrative-decision preparation, approval, notice and control actions
  • Source handoffs: internal notice templates, current MCM classification, historical upgrades and CUE severance
  • Saved Guard/Reserve duty verification, distinct Title 10/32/5 status and precise rating versus administrative handoffs
  • Saved ADT/IADT evidence standards, pay-record requests, direct travel and post-grant service updates
  • Saved LOD need, incident analysis, administrative approval and defined common-accident routing
  • Saved claimant/witness statements with initial 30-day and witness follow-up 30-day controls
  • Saved substance-related development, SC-related exceptions, older-award protection and tobacco secondary evidence
  • Remaining: exact special-presumption rules, uncommon service groups and protected adjudication actions
  • Saved field-examination need, 21-3537a preparation, hub/foreign/restricted routing and report review

Open current guidance → · Return to Determine relevant evidence and duty to assist

Listed common rules checked against the official article on 2026-09-08.

Development

7. Determine relevant evidence and duty to assistSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • Relevant or irrelevant
  • evidence already present
  • request needed
  • unclear scope
  • DTA exceptions
  • claimant cooperation
  • control accuracy
  • Tracked-item response outcomes and substantive readiness
  • Concurrent development with relevant-PMR opinion prerequisite

Open current guidance → · Return to Separate requests and their issue links

Article references identified; this does not establish review of every rule in the article.

8. Separate requests and their issue linksQuestions implemented for the listed scope; exceptions and linked rules may remain
  • Multiple same-kind requests
  • one request shared by issues
  • unassigned scope
  • edited dates
  • new response
  • reopened request

Open current guidance → · Return to Review each response or stopping condition

Article references identified; this does not establish review of every rule in the article.

9. Private medical recordsSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • Contractor or RO
  • authorization absent or invalid
  • initial response clock
  • phone and letter follow-up
  • rejection
  • provider fee
  • special release
  • partial response
  • new source
  • actual receipt
  • exhaustion and notice

Open current guidance → · Return to Review each response or stopping condition

Article references identified; this does not establish review of every rule in the article.

10. STRs, personnel, and service-record channelsSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • STR coverage by qualifying period and specific missing treatment
  • Signed certification cutoffs and 45-day follow-up
  • Branch-specific OMPF repositories and transition exceptions
  • Clinical inpatient and mental health custodians and authorizations
  • Fire confirmation, one-time letter, reconstruction and alternate evidence
  • MRS unusual-case escalation and service-verification formal finding
  • Supplemental service-record intake, duplicates, rating referral and deferrals
  • Existing HAIMS, RV1/NG1, NPRC and DPRIS response controls

Open current guidance → · Return to Review each response or stopping condition

Listed common rules checked against the official article on 2026-09-07.

The listed sources matched the official manual September 7, 2026. All eight III.ii.2 sections are in the offline library. The service-records guide now includes branch-specific OMPF cutoffs, clinical records, certification, fire reconstruction, MRS escalation and supplemental-record routing. Historical STR migration, SGO and dependent-treatment repositories, all special Navy/Coast Guard records and system instructions remain detailed source procedures.

11. VA, Vet Center, and authorized non-VA treatmentSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • HDR/SCIP, CAPRI, and JLV evidence coverage
  • Archived request dates, registration/enrollment, and contradictory evidence
  • 10-7131 correction and 30/15/10-day follow-up
  • ROI status updates, scanning, and retrieval
  • VA nonexistence and case-specific notice exceptions
  • Vet Center authorization and Federal requests
  • Community Care custody, prior efforts, and PMR handoff
  • VR&E folder search and supervisor escalation

Open current guidance → · Return to Review each response or stopping condition

Listed common rules checked against the official article on 2026-09-06.

Guided questions now cover CAPRI/JLV and archived-record gaps, 10-7131 follow-up, notice considerations, Vet Center consent, Community Care custody and prior development, and VR&E escalation. The actual system request steps, EHRM routing, and business-day controls still require the linked instructions.

12. SSA and other Federal custodiansSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • SSA medical/admin records versus FOLQ
  • SSA-GSO initial control, five-day follow-up, and Super User
  • Portal files and 20-day deletion
  • Destroyed, unlocatable, and never-submitted medical records
  • Extended-outage SSA fax: 15/10-day follow-up
  • Written Federal 30/15-day requests and useful new leads
  • Forwarded versus unforwarded or temporarily unavailable records
  • MTF, civilian personnel, OWCP, USPHS, and special-agency routes
  • Supported stopping condition, notice, and linked-issue review

Open current guidance → · Return to Review each response or stopping condition

Listed common rules checked against the official article on 2026-09-06.

Guided questions now distinguish SSA-GSO and exceptional fax requests, response types and notice, and ordinary written Federal follow-up. SSA benefit/payment calculations and specialized agency transactions remain manual handoffs. Source-specific completion prevents a missing response from being treated as received records.

13. Claimant evidence and response periodsSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • Clarification versus evidence requests and MST exception
  • Actual 30-day evidence or 15-day damaged-media notice
  • Received, partial, nonresponse, extensions and returned mail
  • Telephone award information and documentation safeguards
  • Continued-eligibility 60/65-day controls and adjustment basis
  • SC statement certification and rating need determination
  • Photocopy acceptance
  • Erroneous-request nullification and notice

Open current guidance → · Return to Review each response or stopping condition

Listed common rules checked against the official article on 2026-09-07.

14. Third-party records and disclosureSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • Case-specific relevance and earlier effective-date potential
  • Mandatory military clinical records for SC mental-disorder claims
  • Third-party consent and lawful disclosure
  • Adverse interests, conflict and alternative evidence
  • Useful new custodians and medical clarification
  • Federal versus private stopping conditions
  • Unavailable-record notice and separate request outcomes

Open current guidance → · Return to Review each response or stopping condition

Listed common rules checked against the official article on 2026-09-07.

Response review

15. Review each response or stopping conditionQuestions implemented for the listed scope; exceptions and linked rules may remain
  • Complete receipt
  • partial receipt
  • defective response
  • new source
  • continued efforts
  • supported unavailability
  • required notice
  • documentation
  • return to every affected issue

Open current guidance → · Return to Evidence, examination, notice, and remaining requests

Listed common rules checked against the official article on 2026-09-05.

Examination

16. Examination and opinion thresholdSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • Evidence sufficiency before request
  • Initial versus supplemental new-and-relevant-evidence gate
  • Direct and secondary low thresholds
  • Presumptive manifestation
  • Noted-at-entry active-service aggravation
  • Increases and IU without the three service-connection elements
  • Audiology STR prerequisite and foreign coordination
  • Pending-evidence timing and Exam Review notes
  • No-examination outcome and parent theory checks
  • TERA/PTSD, soundness, and special aggravation handoffs

Open current guidance → · Return to Report adequacy and clarification

Listed common rules checked against the official article on 2026-09-07.

Guided thresholds cover initial and supplemental issues, increases/IU, direct and secondary theories, presumptive manifestation, and ordinary noted-at-entry aggravation. They check evidence sufficiency, relevant pending development, audiology STR prerequisites, and Exam Review documentation. No-examination findings remain separate from reports and no-show dispositions. TERA/PTSD, complex soundness, special aggravation, and other special postures still need their linked procedures.

17. Request, scheduling, cancellation, and nonattendanceSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • New request: need/scope/evidence/ERRA checks
  • Employee facility and episodic scheduling
  • Actual suspense maturity and provider follow-up
  • Accepted request modifications and vendor clarification
  • Cancellation documentation and replacement
  • Private DBQ contact, notice, 30-day period, and response
  • No-show / RSVP notice, address search, and necessity
  • Good cause, repeated failures, and post-decision willingness
  • Original/new versus increase/supplemental rating handoff
  • Special exam questions: pregnancy, incarceration, foreign residence, SHA, non-Veterans, IMO and examiner arrangements
  • Missed review-exam proposal, responses, hearings, returned notice, final rating and payment-date review; unresolved abandonment trigger flagged

Open current guidance → · Return to Report adequacy and clarification

Listed common rules checked against the official article on 2026-09-06.

Common request preparation, scheduling, suspense review, cancellation, private-DBQ opportunities, no-shows, and VHA RSVP cancellations now have guided branches. Special situations, detailed specialty/ACE criteria, and running-award payment procedures remain explicit manual handoffs.

18. Report adequacy and clarificationSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • Final CAPRI/VBMS report before sufficiency review
  • Required findings, signatures, opinions, and rationale
  • No-diagnosis and erroneously requested examination exceptions
  • Material medical conflict versus evidence weighing
  • VHA insufficient return within 45 days of report receipt / new request after 45 days
  • Same-vendor rework after ESR Completed status
  • Original and triggered requirements versus genuinely new ESR
  • Hospital and private physician report clarification
  • Adequate report versus procedural rating disposition
  • Disability-specific standards: reference review remains
  • IV.i.3.B disability-specific findings and exceptions
  • Respiratory PFT and sleep-study distinctions
  • Specific defects continue to provider correction
  • All-report sufficiency gate after component checks

Open current guidance → · Return to Evidence, examination, notice, and remaining requests

Listed common rules checked against the official article on 2026-09-07.

Guided branches cover the disability groups and exceptions in IV.i.3.B, including ROM/flare-ups, hearing opinions, mental-health findings, respiratory testing, scars, sleep studies, and TBI. Identified defects continue into CAPRI correction, same-vendor rework, or private-report clarification. Other DBQ and diagnostic-code criteria still require their sources; a passing component cannot complete the whole request without review of every required report and opinion.

Compensation merits

19. Direct service connectionSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • Current/near-contemporaneous and resolved diagnoses
  • Service occurrence, combat and scars
  • Direct nexus versus listed-disease chronicity/continuity
  • Post-discharge diagnosis and acute/transitory evidence
  • Separate documented procedure review; final rating remains

Open current guidance → · Return to Evidence, examination, notice, and remaining requests

Listed common rules checked against the official article on 2026-09-07.

The service-connection procedure now distinguishes current and resolved diagnoses, direct nexus, entrance notation, both soundness rebuttal burdens, ordinary and special aggravation, training-period exceptions, congenital diseases/defects, and the in-service baseline rules. Disability-specific eligibility, final evidence weighing, evaluations and effective dates remain their own procedures.

20. Increased evaluationsSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • Current severity
  • staged evaluation
  • worsening versus new condition
  • inferred IU
  • examinations
  • effective-date lookback
  • Guided increase/application classification and completed-development referral

Open current guidance → · Return to Evidence, examination, notice, and remaining requests

Article references identified; this does not establish review of every rule in the article.

21. Secondary service connection and aggravationSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • Primary/secondary issue coordination and chronology
  • Separate causation and aggravation thresholds
  • But-for and nonpermanent aggravation standard
  • Baseline evidence and duty to assist
  • Focused examination preparation
  • Secondary report correction
  • Documented no-additional-examination findings
  • Baseline/evaluation and final decision handoffs

Open current guidance → · Return to Evidence, examination, notice, and remaining requests

Listed common rules checked against the official article on 2026-09-07.

Guided causation and aggravation review uses the current but-for standard, separate opinion requirements, baseline development, report correction, and guarded examination findings. Full explanations cover all eight numbered blocks of V.ii.2.D. Final rating percentages, effective dates, and unusual primary-disability postures remain manual review.

22. Preexisting, congenital, or hereditary conditionSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • Actual entrance notation versus history
  • Lost examination report versus no examination
  • Both soundness rebuttal burdens
  • Noted-condition aggravation and natural progression
  • ADT/IADT and same-period Hill exception
  • Combat/POW, chronic presumption and treatment effects
  • Congenital disease/defect and superimposed disability
  • In-service baseline deduction and total-evaluation exception

Open current guidance → · Return to Evidence, examination, notice, and remaining requests

Listed common rules checked against the official article on 2026-09-07.

The service-connection procedure now distinguishes current and resolved diagnoses, direct nexus, entrance notation, both soundness rebuttal burdens, ordinary and special aggravation, training-period exceptions, congenital diseases/defects, and the in-service baseline rules. Disability-specific eligibility, final evidence weighing, evaluations and effective dates remain their own procedures.

23. Presumptions and exposure developmentSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • Qualifying service
  • disease
  • exposure facts
  • presumptive period
  • alternative direct theory
  • TERA applicability and exceptions
  • Saved specific-authority/service screening, primary versus metastatic cancer, historical manifestation criteria, lay onset/diagnostic clarification and rebuttal evidence
  • Remaining: every condition/location-specific presumption branch, historical service/exposure exceptions and final medical/merits findings

Open current guidance → · Return to Evidence, examination, notice, and remaining requests

Listed common rules checked against the official article on 2026-09-08.

Guided TERA examination thresholds, condition/circumstance exceptions, exposure and memorandum review, combined Gulf War requests, and report corrections are implemented using verified manual articles and dated captured SOP/job aids. Specific presumptive condition/location rules, live system operations, pre-discharge exceptions, and final rating/effective-date decisions remain manual work. The supporting intranet versions could not be checked live.

24. PTSD and other mental disordersSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • Diagnosis
  • combat
  • fear of hostile activity
  • personal assault and markers
  • other stressor
  • corroboration
  • medical opinion
  • mental-disorder evaluation

Open current guidance → · Return to Evidence, examination, notice, and remaining requests

Listed common rules checked against the official article on 2026-09-07.

Guided stressor development, ordinary research, personal-trauma and MST evidence steps, examination preparation, adequate-evidence findings, and PTSD report corrections are implemented. Negative research and missing markers retain rating handoffs. Restricted DSAID operations, pre-discharge processing, and final merits/evaluation/effective-date rules remain manual work.

25. Individual unemployabilitySome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • Raised IU and current 21-8940
  • Disability scope and telephone/written clarification
  • Last five years worked and last-year employers
  • 15/15-day employer follow-up; 10-day website clarification
  • Federal, closed-business, self-employment and supported-grant exceptions
  • Medical functional impact, SSA, VR&E, and Guard/Reserve development
  • Decision/referral and existing-award handoffs

Open current guidance → · Return to Evidence, examination, notice, and remaining requests

Listed common rules checked against the official article on 2026-09-07.

Guided branches cover current application and disability scope, claimant clarification, employer requests and exceptions, self-employment, medical evidence, SSA/VR&E, and Guard/Reserve records. IU rating entitlement, marginal/protected work determinations, and income-monitoring award actions are still detailed manual procedures.

26. Special monthly compensation and ancillary entitlementSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • Regular A&A and below-100 referral
  • Single-disability housebound and separate 60
  • Specific k losses
  • Higher care r(2)
  • TBI t after Laska
  • Spouse compensation allowance
  • Combination facts and calculator/signatures
  • Hospital A&A expense/allowance exceptions, same-rate protection, admission/irregular-readmission dates, notice and discharge restoration
  • Historical and pension-only payment provisions remain source-specific

Open current guidance → · Return to Evidence, examination, notice, and remaining requests

Listed common rules checked against the official article on 2026-09-07.

27. Compensation under 38 U.S.C. 1151Some guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • Application and claim-date framework
  • Comprehensive incident request and quality-assurance access
  • Low medical-opinion threshold and mandatory contract routing
  • Covered care, referral causation and training/CWT
  • Consent, unforeseeability and specific acts/omissions
  • Rating narrative, aggravation baseline and benefit distinctions
  • Pending tort versus finalized judgment; full offsets remain
  • Saved linked tort-offset procedure for finality, gross recovery, legal allocation, protected SC compensation, historical pre-1962 recovery, awards and notices
  • Remaining: full historical entitlement and ancillary-benefit allocation determinations, authorized legal decisions and real award calculations

Open current guidance → · Return to Evidence, examination, notice, and remaining requests

Listed common rules checked against the official article on 2026-09-08.

Guided incident development, quality-assurance access, contract opinion routing, consent, covered-care/referral distinctions, specific allegations and rating/award review points are available. The linked tort-offset procedure now reviews recovery evidence, allocation referrals, protected compensation, dates, award entries and notices. Final legal allocation, actual calculations, ancillary offsets and unusual historical entitlement retain their distinct authorities.

28. Temporary total and review examinationsSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • Hospital qualification and report-only scope
  • Hospital dates and continuing treatment
  • Convalescence grounds and initial month boundaries
  • Extension grounds and VSCM approval
  • Prestabilization and review
  • Definite/indefinite DC periods
  • Cancer review and residual reductions
  • Manual DC-specific periods, interruptions, notices and review-exam exceptions

Open current guidance → · Return to Evidence, examination, notice, and remaining requests

Listed common rules checked against the official article on 2026-09-07.

29. Disability-specific rating requirementsMapped for implementation; use source rules
  • Musculoskeletal
  • neurological
  • sensory
  • skin
  • respiratory
  • cardiovascular
  • digestive
  • genitourinary
  • endocrine
  • infectious
  • dental
  • diagnostic-code exceptions and prohibited overlap

Open current guidance → · Return to Evidence, examination, notice, and remaining requests

Article references identified; this does not establish review of every rule in the article.

Issue review

30. Evidence, examination, notice, and remaining requestsSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • Specific procedure reviewed
  • sufficient or missing/conflicting evidence
  • adequate or pending/insufficient examination
  • required notice
  • unresolved linked or unassigned request

Open current guidance → · Return to Partial decision and deferral

Article references identified; this does not establish review of every rule in the article.

Decision

31. Partial decision and deferralQuestions implemented for the listed scope; exceptions and linked rules may remain
  • No issue ready
  • mixed readiness
  • all issue findings reviewed
  • return to active duty
  • mixed automation eligibility
  • previously denied deferred issue

Open current guidance → · Return to Weigh evidence and prepare rating decision

Listed common rules checked against the official article on 2026-09-05.

32. Weigh evidence and prepare rating decisionReference procedure/checklist; full branching not implemented
  • Competence and credibility
  • favorable findings
  • theories
  • evaluations
  • staged ratings
  • narrative
  • codesheet
  • deferred issues
  • ancillary benefits
  • quality review

Open current guidance → · Return to Effective dates and continuous pursuit

Article references identified; this does not establish review of every rule in the article.

33. Effective dates and continuous pursuitSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • Initial
  • increase
  • supplemental
  • new service records
  • liberalizing law
  • staged evaluation
  • IU and ancillary dates
  • special statutory exceptions
  • Saved dependency life-event and qualifying-rating date review; Sharp and timely-event exception; actual filing/evidence periods and separate payment commencement
  • Historical dependency and continuous-pursuit exceptions explained with explicit manual handoffs; other compensation effective-date branches remain unfinished
  • Saved evidence review for receipt/ITF/continuous pursuit, onset, service continuity, presumptions, secondary versus complications, increase/IU/A&A, liberalizing rules and finality/CUE
  • Remaining: final rating/date determinations, every historical/transitional rule and condition-specific Nehmer/PACT/application exception

Open current guidance → · Return to Award, payment, offsets, and release

Listed common rules checked against the official article on 2026-09-08.

Authorization

34. Award, payment, offsets, and releaseSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • Saved authorization review: decision authority, codesheet/award agreement and unresolved issues
  • Payment commencement and exception screening; ordinary and same-month 4.29 dates
  • Self-authorization exclusions, $40,000/override concurrence and Veteran-spouse benefit control
  • Dependency/SSN/removal guides linked; independent claims and proposal controls preserved
  • Saved adult fiduciary-award certification, current-payment/retroactive distinction, $10,000/$25,000 approvals and documentation
  • Saved supervised-direct-pay certification, resumption concurrence and six-month/one-year retroactive withholding controls
  • Saved child fiduciary/parent-custodian review, primary-competency exclusion, appointment follow-up, withheld-fund release and majority controls
  • Saved institutional admission, nursing care, non-bed care, PFOP and existing-award discharge guidance; no new institutional awards after August 13, 2018
  • Saved current apportionment eligibility, development, award/payee and notice review; February 9, 2026 new-claim restrictions and preserved legacy boundaries
  • Saved separation-benefit verification, recoupment exceptions, VSP schedules, hardship review and retired-pay coordination
  • Saved drill-pay elections, active-duty overlap, rate/date exceptions, notice and restoration; official calculator/actual award still required
  • Saved MRP waiver/full-CRDP review, known/unknown awards, actual cutoffs, follow-up, reelection, TDRL and agency coordination
  • Saved legacy/current apportionment changes, payee and primary notice, death/divorce verification, missing-payee resumption and distinct award dates
  • Saved garnishment Finance/Counsel referral, dependent allotments, separate notices, delinquent payments and non-COLA changes
  • Saved 1151/paired-organ recovery verification, allocation referral, protected-rate comparison, finality versus receipt dates and actual award/notice review
  • Remaining: unresolved contradictory source date instructions, separately allocated ancillary offsets, historical award exceptions and complete FPM operations; actual legal determinations and system transactions remain required

Open current guidance → · Return to Decision notice and final disposition

Listed common rules checked against the official article on 2026-09-08.

35. Decision notice and final dispositionSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • Saved notice review: advance/contemporaneous process, content, rights and verified dispatch
  • RADL versus manual/AEW/final-incompetency/contested exceptions
  • Protected FTI preparation, disclosure, local mailing and imaging review
  • Missing notice, actual package status, corrected grant/denial letters, drafts and backfill
  • Unfinished: detailed hearing/adverse-notice exceptions, returned-mail handling and every benefit-specific exhibit
  • Saved advance/contemporaneous notice selection, corrected proposals, response periods, premature-action correction and actual final-notice checks
  • Saved RO hearing intake, protected payments, independent official, scheduling/10-day notice, no-show/good cause, transcript and resulting development
  • Saved contested entitlement/development, approved decisions, Board-only notice and ordinary/apportionment payment-release distinctions
  • Saved essential/nonessential returned mail, ordered address searches, bank controls, FTI, correct EPs and fiduciary/whereabouts safeguards
  • Remaining: full legacy and Board hearing administration, fee-contest adjudication, uncommon notice litigation and internal dispatch transactions

Open current guidance → · Return to New evidence, review options, and corrections

Listed common rules checked against the official article on 2026-09-08.

After decision

36. New evidence, review options, and correctionsSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • Supplemental
  • HLR or appeal route
  • new evidence during review
  • CUE
  • corrected notice
  • reopened development
  • remand instructions
  • HLR eligibility, concurrent elections and review withdrawal/reinstatement
  • Board grant/remand evidence and implementation-notice review; captured M21-5 Chapter 4 linked from guide

Open current guidance → · Return to EP label and requested action

Article references identified; this does not establish review of every rule in the article.

Other compensation controls

37. Dependency, proposals, adjustments, correspondenceSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • 130 dependency intake, modern-form omissions and pending-rating controls
  • Late qualifying-rating promulgation, RBPS review and incremental consolidation
  • Assigned/requested/unassigned SSN distinctions and running-award protections
  • Compensation dependent removal: report source, dates, missing information and oral-report disputes
  • Marriage validity, prior termination, common-law evidence and legal/administrative decision handoffs
  • Biological, adoptive and foster parent relationship with financial need and competing-role checks
  • Parent conclusive/factual need, older statements, follow-up, loss, death and renewed dependency
  • 21-0538 verification: actual mailing, substitutes, incomplete/missing-date stages, 60/65/90-day controls and later restoration
  • Child age, relationship and parentage; domestic/foreign adoption evidence and annual follow-up; adoption-out distinctions
  • Stepchild household/support, known and missing dates, proposal nonresponse and restoration
  • Child marriage, void/annulled restoration, legal decisions and actual payee cutoff dates
  • School eligibility, term and qualifying-rating dates, future attendance, annual certification and third-party change controls
  • DEA/Fry versus transferred education, actual paid-election dates, payees and two-parent distinctions
  • Permanent incapacity: prescribed claim, premature diary, historical evidence, rating/authorization boundaries, later employment, hearings and final-notice payment cutoff
  • Unfinished: school-child majority/direct-payment detailed transactions, complex historical/continuous-pursuit dates, adoption-out third-party cross-reference, specialized hearing/contested and jurisdiction-specific legal procedures

Open current guidance → · Return to EP label and requested action

Listed common rules checked against the official article on 2026-09-07.

Competency and fiduciary procedures now include third-party complaints, evidence standards, proposals, hearing/waiver routing, response periods, restoration and court orders. Detailed fiduciary operations and all other administrative EPs are not thereby complete.

38. Special processing and jurisdictionSome guided branches; specialized branches unfinished
  • Priority handling
  • sensitive cases
  • homelessness
  • terminal illness
  • overseas
  • incarcerated claimant
  • active duty
  • FDC/BDD
  • remands
  • transfers
  • reserved jurisdiction
  • systemic error
  • Lost-folder rebuilding from claim receipt
  • Duplicate-record POC referral and consolidation prerequisites; pending exam and award safeguards
  • Active-duty blocked development, all versus partially deferred controls and claim resumption
  • Prior-compensation stop/reinstatement, DoD notice, STR exceptions and disputed activation matches; conditional advance notice remains authorized review
  • Saved foreign compensation jurisdiction, Philippine rating/non-rating split, dependent/primary residence, U.S. territories and special-act award routing
  • Saved translation requests and certification, authentication exceptions and channels, consular services and loyalty-clearance development
  • Saved listed-country initial/supplemental claim screen, Treasury returns, dependent removal, annual existence controls and payment resumption
  • Remaining: all rare exclusive-jurisdiction/private-law exceptions, historical existence-only effective dates, official clearance findings and live payment-authority changes

Open current guidance → · Return to Determine relevant evidence and duty to assist

Listed common rules checked against the official article on 2026-09-08.

Later benefits

39. Veterans pension and special monthly pensionOther benefit: mapped for later
  • Service
  • disability/age
  • income
  • net worth
  • dependents
  • medical expenses
  • A&A/housebound
  • adjustments

Open current guidance → · Return to Decision notice and final disposition

Article references identified; this does not establish review of every rule in the article.

40. Survivor DIC, death pension, and burialOther benefit: mapped for later
  • Death
  • relationship
  • service connection cause of death
  • DIC eligibility
  • income where applicable
  • burial eligibility
  • notice and authorization

Open current guidance → · Return to Decision notice and final disposition

Article references identified; this does not establish review of every rule in the article.

41. Accrued benefits and substitutionOther benefit: mapped for later
  • Pending claim at death
  • eligible claimant
  • timeliness
  • accrued record limits versus substitution development
  • payment

Open current guidance → · Return to Decision notice and final disposition

Article references identified; this does not establish review of every rule in the article.

42. Other ancillary and special benefitsOther benefit: mapped for later
  • SAH/SHA
  • automobile/adaptive equipment
  • DEA
  • certificates
  • special allowances
  • benefit-specific jurisdiction and application

Open current guidance → · Return to Decision notice and final disposition

Article references identified; this does not establish review of every rule in the article.

Captured articles awaiting detailed mapping

155 articles have at least one explicit family reference above. All 13,555 heading records remain in the detailed-rule backlog until they are individually reconciled with implemented questions. The following articles do not yet have an explicit family reference.

Show 300 articles without an explicit family reference