Can I receive DIC if the veteran was never service connected?

Details

• Under 38 CFR § 3.312, VA looks at whether a service-connected condition (established for the first time after death, if necessary) was the principal or a contributory cause of death.
• This typically requires medical records, a nexus opinion, and sometimes a new medical opinion obtained after death, since the veteran cannot be examined.
• A separate route — 'hypothetical entitlement' under § 1318(b) — is narrow and applies only when specific statutory conditions are met (see 38 CFR § 3.22(b)); it is not available in every case where a veteran was unrated at death.
• These claims are evidence-intensive and are commonly denied on the first decision for lack of a documented medical nexus, which is why many are pursued on appeal.