Question:
I am 70% but 100% TDIU, how do I find out if it's permanent or not. The packet I received doesn't say but where it says about family education benefits it does say permanent in nature, so does that mean it is. Thanks.
Jim's Reply:
VA loves obscure, obtuse, mysterious verbiage. Rather than just coming out and saying that your benefit is permanent with no future exams scheduled, they will codify that to say that your dependents are eligible to apply for Chapter 35 educational benefits and/or CHAMPVA health insurance. If you see either of those, your benefit is permanent.
Interestingly, the word permanent at VA doesn't mean permanent. VA can and often does investigate any benefit for the quality of the adjudication or fraud and if any problems are found the benefit may be modified. When your 100% benefit is coded as permanent it only means that you have no further scheduled exams to review the conditions status and it opens doors to those extra family benefits.