Hello, veterans.
Travis Studdard, a veterans' disability attorney, here talking to you still about TDIU claims,
and more specifically how to deal with non-service-connected disabilities in those types of claims.
If you saw a related video I did recently, I talked about how to minimize the effects
of those non-service-connected disabilities to show VA that they are not the reasons that
you can't work, but rather that the reason you can't work is your service-connected disabilities,
which is what you have to prove in your claim.
That's a good strategy to take if you have to do that.
Again, if you've already been denied TDIU because they say you can't work due to a non-service-connected
disability, you really don't have any choice at that point but to, again, play up the effects
of the service-connected disabilities and downplay the effects of non-service-connected
disabilities.
But I want to put a thought in your head for a moment.
What if you don't even have to get into all of that?
Any fan of military strategy knows that planning is key, right?
You win the battle before it ever starts.
The same can be true in your VA disability claim.
Here's what I mean.
Can you limit your claim and the evidence in that claim only to service-connected disabilities?
If you can, then you never open the lid on non-service-connected disabilities for VA
to get into all of that.
But again, you have to be prepared if they do start to consider those.
How do you do that?
Go through your medical records that you're going to submit to VA regarding your service-connected
disabilities.
If those records are completely silent on that unrelated disability, unrelated health
condition you have, then it may never come up with the VA at that point.
However, if you're like many people and have a doctor who treats multiple conditions, some
of which are service-related, some of which are not, then VA is going to know that you
have this other health condition that's not related to your military service.
They may start to dig deeper into that issue at that point.
So again, look at your medical records.
Look at the evidence you're submitting with a keen eye on, "Am I telling them more than
I should here?
Am I only limiting this to service-connected disabilities or am I opening up an entire
can of worms on these other conditions that I would just rather not muddy the waters with?"
Certainly that's a big issue with medical records.
It's much easier in your [lay 00:03:21] statements that you submit or even in a prepared statement
written by your doctor.
You can easily focus on the service-connected disabilities without bringing up topics that
really have nothing to do with your claim.
So again, just look at those records.
Think twice before you start submitting things to VA.
Don't just do a shotgun approach and give them everything in your entire medical history,
because then you're just giving them a lot of fertile ground to plow and find ways to
deny your claim.
Hope that makes sense.
Again, think of this on the front end.
Plan ahead.
Come up with a strategy.
Don't bring it up if you don't have to.
But if you do, then take the steps I suggested in that earlier video of how to minimize the
effects of the non-service-connected disabilities.
Like this video.
Check out the others.
Reach out to us on our website, winyourvetclaim.com, or give us a call if you have any questions
or need help with your claim for individual unemployability or any other disabilities
you may be seeking benefits for.
Thanks for watching.
Have a great day.