38 C.F.R. § 3.31

Commencement of the period of payment

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Regardless of VA regulations concerning effective dates of awards, and except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, payment of monetary benefits based on original, supplemental, or increased awards of compensation, pension, dependency and indemnity compensation, or a monetary allowance under 38 U.S.C. chapter 18 for an individual who is a child of a Vietnam veteran or a child of a veteran with covered service in Korea may not be made for any period prior to the first day of the calendar month following the month in which the award became effective. However, beneficiaries will be deemed to be in receipt of monetary benefits during the period between the effective date of the award and the date payment commences for the purpose of all laws administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs except that nothing in this section will be construed as preventing the receipt of retired or retirement pay prior to the effective date of waiver of such pay in accordance with 38 U.S.C. 5305.

(a) Increased award defined. For the purposes of this section the term increased award means an award which is increased because of an added dependent, increase in disability or disability rating, or reduction in income. The term also includes elections of improved pension under section 306 of Pub. L. 95-588 and awards pursuant to paragraphs 29 and 30 of the Schedule for Rating Disabilities except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section.

(b) General rule of applicability. The provisions of this section apply to all original, supplemental, or increased awards unless such awards provide only for continuity of entitlement with no increase in rate of payment.

(1) Surviving spouse's rate for the month of a veteran's death (for exception see § 3.20(b))

(2) In cases where military retired or retirement pay is greater than the amount of compensation payable, compensation will be paid as of the effective date of waiver of such pay. However, in cases where the amount of compensation payable is greater than military retired or retirement pay, payment of the available difference for any period prior to the effective date of total waiver of such pay is subject to the general provisions of this section.

(3) Adjustments of awards—such as in the case of apportionments or the termination of any withholding, reduction, or suspension by reason of:

(i) Recoupment,

(ii) An offset to collect indebtedness,

(iii) Institutionalization (hospitalization),

(iv) Incompetency,

(v) Incarceration,

(vi) An estate that exceeds the limitation for certain hospitalized incompetent veterans, or

(vii) Discontinuance of apportionments.

(4) Increases resulting solely from the enactment of legislation—such as

(i) Cost-of-living increases in compensation or dependency and indemnity compensation,

(ii) Increases in Improved Pension, parents' dependency and indemnity compensation, or a monetary allowance under 38 U.S.C. chapter 18 pursuant to § 3.27, or

(iii) Changes in the criteria for statutory award designations.

(5) Temporary total ratings pursuant to paragraph 29 of the Schedule for Rating Disabilities when the entire period of hospitalization or treatment, including any period of post-hospitalization convalescence, commences and terminates within the same calendar month. In such cases the period of payment shall commence on the first day of the month in which the hospitalization or treatment began.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 1805, 1815, 1821, 1832, 5111) [48 FR 34472, July 29, 1983; 48 FR 37031, Aug. 16, 1983, as amended at 49 FR 47003, Nov. 30, 1984; 65 FR 35282, June 2, 2000; 67 FR 49586, July 31, 2002; 76 FR 4247, Jan. 25, 2011; 84 FR 166, Jan. 18, 2019; 91 FR 905, Jan. 9, 2026]

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 24 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1991–2021 · leading case: Nehmer v. United States Vets. Admin., 32 F. Supp. 2d 1175 (N.D. Cal. 1999).

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Nehmer v. United States Vets. Admin., 32 F. Supp. 2d 1175 (N.D. Cal. 1999). · cites it 3× “The decision made no specific reference to 38 C.F.R. § 3.31 la(d) — or any other regulation.”

Nat'l Ass'n of Radiation Survivors v. Edward J. Derwinski, Sec'y of the Dep't of Vets. Affairs, 994 F.2d 583 (9th Cir. 1993). · cites it 2× “98-542 and the regulation adopted pursuant to that law, 38 C.F.R. § 3.31 lb, allow IR claimants to submit their own radiation dose estimates.”

Hilkert v. West, 12 Vet. App. 145 (Vet. App. 1999). “Although cancer of the rectum was not listed in 38 C.F.R. § 3.31 lb(b)(2) in 1992, colon cancer was.”

Williams v. Principi, 15 Vet. App. 189 (Vet. App. 2001). “In rejecting VA’s position, the District Court reasoned, with respect to the first readjudication criterion, that “if a veteran failed to raise the Agent Orange issue because he knew it was useless to do so under 38 C.F.R. § 3.31 la(d), then the veteran was denied benefits as a…”

Combee v. Brown, 5 Vet. App. 248 (Vet. App. 1993). “38 C.F.R. § 3.31 lb(a)(2)(iii) (1992). The Department has inexplicably described the regulatory provision as to “all other [radiation] claims” as having been “adopted by VA under the authority of [the 1984 Act]” 19 .”

Sawyer v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 130 (Vet. App. 1991). “Application of 38 C.F.R. § 3.31 lb(a) and (e) Two regulatory provisions seem particularly pertinent to further consideration of this case on remand.”

Viglas v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 1 (Vet. App. 1994). “[T]he appellant was authorized [DIC] benefits one year prior to the time of receipt of her application, or January 1990, with actual payment the first day of the following month[,] or February 1, 1990, under the provisions of 38 C.F.R. § 3.31 -[T]hat is the earliest effective…”

Nat'l Ass'n of Radiation Survivors v. Derwinski, 782 F. Supp. 1392 (N.D. Cal. 1992). · cites it 2× “38 CFR § 3.31 lb(a)(2)(i) — (ii). The general procedures followed by the DNA, including dose reconstruction methodology and dose estimate reporting standards, are codified in 32 CFR § 218.”

Nat'l Ass'n of Radiation Survivors v. Derwinski, 778 F. Supp. 1096 (N.D. Cal. 1991). “38 CFR § 3.31 lb(b)(4)(i)-(iv). 4 . Under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences and the Environmental Protection Agency, a committee of the National Research Council was established to investigate and report on the health consequences of radiation exposures.”

Satchel v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 258 (Vet. App. 1991). “§ 3010 (1988) and 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.31 , 3.160, 3.400(r) (1990).”

Ildefonso R. Ricafort v. R. James Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 198 (Vet. App. 2007). · cites it 2× “See 38 C.F.R. § 3.31 (2006); see also Trilles v.”

11-10 396 (Board of Vet. App. 2014). · cites it 7× “2013); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.31 , 3.102, 3.105(e), 3.156, 3.”

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