What Kind Of Lawyer Do I Need? Won Dad's Va Lawsuit After His Death. Gov't Denied My Claim To The Money.

Please be kind. This is my first post ever. I know my grammar is horrible. I used to be good at writing, but I don't write more than a short email or text anymore.

My dad had a VA lawsuit going for disability from 2011 until he passed away Nov 2018. Korean War vet, USMC. I was able to file paperwork to have my mom put in his place and keep lawsuit going. Then my mom passed away. My brother didn't want to mess with it (it's a pain in the butt) and told me to do whatever I wanted. Mom had already given them consent to talk to me way back because it confused her. I applied to be put on after her death. I didn't think it would be granted because I'm not the oldest and not even executer of estate. Imagine my shock when they allowed it.

Back and forth deny, appeal, deny, appeal. Finally the BIG final deny came. I wasn't surprised. Lawyers close things out, it's over. A few months later I got a letter that the Gov't/VA lawyers/judge had something filed wrong in 2011 when he first filed it and they were revisiting the entire case. (I have 2 computer paper boxes full of paperwork from this lawsuit. It took almost 6 months. and Dad/I won it. One part was denied. He was granted 100% disability. I called the lawyer that had handled everything to ask what to do next only to be told they don't handle claims and no longer represent me/Dad and to call VA. Called VA and they told me what forms I needed to file.

Here's the thing. It's normally spouse or minor child. I'm 53. Every person at VA I have talked to said they have never seen adult child try to claim.

I'm not trying to claim monthly benefits. Just the 50% they owe dad from 2011-2018 while he was still alive. (they pay retro back to the day of filing). The way I see it is that it was file in 2011 and if Dad would have won right away like 2012 they would have been paying him until 2018 when he died. He would have had more in savings for mom etc. (Dad had cancer and Mom was 11 years younger than him. Her death was totally unexpected in 2021 when she was in a horrible car accident and died 5 days later). Financially mom struggled that 3 years after dad died.

The gov't should at least owe Dad's Estate that money. Why would they put me on the lawsuit if I couldn't claim the judgement? What kind of lawyer do I need to talk to? One that does VA/gov't stuff? Estate? Are there lawyers that specialize in collecting judgements? Waiting to hear back from the lawyer that did my parents Wills/Trusts and handled things when they passed away. My SIL has worked for the lawyer for 30 yrs as his Legal Assistant. I don't think they handle this kind of stuff. They do real estate, wrongful termination, occasional insurance stuff. They sent me to different firm when I filed for guardianship of my grandson and my daughter was signing papers voluntary.

I just want to add that Korea was classified as a Police Action/Conflict, not a war. Soldiers that served there couldn't use VA, couldn't be members of VFW, American Legion, or anything similar because they were not considered Veterans of WAR. President Clinton changed the classification to Korean War in 2000 and gave the soldiers the benefits the earned and deserved. My Dad only went to VA to get hearing aids and glasses. They make you have a physical at VA and the Dr saw my dad's feet and knew it was from frostbite in Korea. It wasn't long before a lawyer called Dad.