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VA | RIN: 2900-AP67 | Publication ID: Fall 2024 |
Title: Apportionments | |
Abstract:
This document amends the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regulations to limit the circumstances in which benefits will be apportioned and to stop apportioning certain benefits. Currently, in limited situations, VA may pay a portion of a VA beneficiary's monetary benefits directly to the beneficiary's dependents. This is referred to as apportionment of benefits. Most claims for apportionment involve complex issues of family law, issues that are best suited to the expertise and authority of state courts. VA claims adjudicators have limited ability to analyze these complex and fact-intensive claims, to include both technical expertise as well as an ability to compel participation in necessary accounting measures. When VA awards apportionments, decisions rendered can disturb state court support awards , requiring a state court to expend additional resources to revisit a prior determination. Finally, due to their intricacy, a significant amount of information is needed to properly adjudicate apportionment claims. While this information is typically already available to state courts, VA must attempt to gather this information from the VA beneficiary and the beneficiary's dependent, which is unavoidably a time-consuming process and often cannot result in a comprehensive evidentiary procedure. The additional time and effort needed to gather this information increases VA workloads and results in the potential for delays in all VA claim processes, including apportionment awards. Since VA apportionment awards often conflict with the awards of better-situated state family courts and because VA lacks the authority and expertise to make fully-informed, accurate and economically appropriate awards, VA is proposing to amend its regulations to discontinue making apportionment awards in most circumstances and to stop apportioning certain benefits. |
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Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs(VA) | Priority: Substantive, Nonsignificant |
RIN Status: Previously published in the Unified Agenda | Agenda Stage of Rulemaking: Final Rule Stage |
Major: No | Unfunded Mandates: No |
CFR Citation: 38 CFR 3.31 38 CFR 3.210 38 CFR 3.252 38 CFR 3.400 38 CFR 3.450 to 3.461 38 CFR 3.556 38 CFR 3.665 38 CFR 3.852 38 CFR 21.330 | |
Legal Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501(a) 38 U.S.C. 5307 38 U.S.C. 5313 38 U.S.C. 5502 38 U.S.C. 5503 Pub. L. 95-588, sec. 306, 92 Stat. 2497 |
Legal Deadline:
None |
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Timetable:
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Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Required: No | Government Levels Affected: None |
Small Entities Affected: No | Federalism: No |
Included in the Regulatory Plan: No | |
RIN Data Printed in the FR: No | |
Agency Contact: Janel Keyes Department of Veterans Affairs 810 Vermont Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20420 Phone:202 509-1067 Email: janel.keyes@va.gov |