Attention to Detail Matters in Latest CAVC Case

The Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) issued its opinion in Wolfe v. Wilkie, No. 17-0519 on August 31, 2020. CAVC’s decision is a reminder that attorneys must sweat the details, even during the VA adjudication process, which is ostensibly non-adversarial in nature.

In Wolfe, the deceased veteran’s widow filed a claim for death benefits. The Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA) found her ineligible because she had not been lawfully married to the veteran for at least a year before his death.

The facts in this case are complicated, but essentially, part of that finding was based on what appeared to be fraudulent documents provided by the veteran’s ex-wife, showing the ex-wife was married to the veteran within that one-year time frame.

The fraudulent nature of the ex-wife’s divorce decree became known after the initial BVA decision. The veteran’s widow, through her attorney, filed a motion for reconsideration of the Board’s denial, considering the fraudulent documents the BVA relied upon. The BVA rejected the reconsideration motion. Then CAVC upheld that decision.

As the dissent points out, had the attorney filed a motion to vacate the BVA decision, it would have been granted. The BVA often interprets a motion for reconsideration as a motion to vacate. Its decision to rigidly follow the letter of the law here, though, led to a harsh result.

This decision is a reminder of what my old SJA used to always say, as attorneys you have to pay close attention to the details. An unfortunate result for the widow.