⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Veterans Court hears Frank Lynn Morrison's appeal over additional disability compensation for his adult stepdaughter. Morrison married her mother in 2021, when the daughter was already over eighteen. He says she lives with the family and has been unable to support herself since childhood. The Board of Veterans' Appeals denied the dependency claim because VA's regulation requires stepchild status to begin before eighteen. The dispute concerns two different questions: when the disability began, and when the stepchild relationship legally began. Congress's definition of a child includes some unmarried adults who became permanently incapable of self-support before eighteen. Morrison will argue that Congress did not also require the stepchild relationship to begin before that age. The Secretary's lawyer will defend VA's rule as continuing a relationship formed in childhood, not creating eligibility through a later marriage. The judges will also consider whether a victory on that legal issue would permit an immediate award, or whether the Board would first need to decide when permanent incapacity began.

Frank Lynn Morrison v. Douglas A. Collins (No. 25-0029) — United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, argued November 10, 2026.