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The guides almost everyone should understand
No legal jargon. No “magic words.” Just what the concept means and why it matters.
How VA Disability Claims WorkLearn the VA disability claim process from filing through evidence development, examinations, a decision, and the choices available afterward.Read guide →What Is Service Connection?Service connection is VA’s legal recognition that a current disability is linked to qualifying military service; it is separate from the percentage assigned.Read guide →What Evidence Can Support a VA Disability Claim?Learn which medical, military, employment, and lay evidence can help—and how to match each document to a fact VA actually needs to decide.Read guide →What Is a C&P Exam?A Compensation and Pension exam is an evidence-gathering examination or medical opinion for a VA claim; it is not treatment and the examiner does not decide the claim.Read guide →How VA Disability Ratings WorkVA assigns a percentage by comparing the service-connected disability picture with the Schedule for Rating Disabilities, then combines multiple ratings using VA math.Read guide →Understanding Your VA Decision LetterRead a VA decision issue by issue: identify what was granted, denied, deferred, the percentage and effective date, favorable findings, reasons, evidence, and review deadline.Read guide →Your Three Main Decision-Review OptionsAfter many modern VA decisions, the three main review lanes are Supplemental Claim, Higher-Level Review, and Board Appeal; the best fit depends on evidence and the error claimed.Read guide →What Semper Guide Does—and Does Not DoSemper Guide helps veterans privately organize claim information, evidence, medical records, and statement drafts; it does not represent claimants or submit anything to VA.Read guide →
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How VA Disability Claims WorkLearn the VA disability claim process from filing through evidence development, examinations, a decision, and the choices available afterward.Read guide →What Is Service Connection?Service connection is VA’s legal recognition that a current disability is linked to qualifying military service; it is separate from the percentage assigned.Read guide →Direct Service Connection ExplainedDirect service connection links a current disability to a specific event, injury, disease, exposure, or symptom history during qualifying service.Read guide →Secondary Service Connection ExplainedSecondary service connection applies when a current disability is caused or aggravated by an already service-connected disability.Read guide →Service Connection by AggravationAggravation can describe either worsening of a preexisting condition during service or worsening of a non-service-connected condition by a service-connected disability.Read guide →What Counts as a Current Disability?A current disability is a present physical or mental impairment—not merely a past event, exposure, risk factor, or laboratory finding without disabling effects.Read guide →What Counts as an In-Service Event, Injury, Disease, or Exposure?The in-service element is the relevant event, injury, disease, symptom onset, or qualifying exposure during the period of service on which the claim relies.Read guide →What Is a Nexus?A nexus is the evidentiary link between a current disability and military service—or between a secondary disability and an established service-connected condition.Read guide →Presumptive Service Connection ExplainedPresumptive service connection means law or regulation supplies the service link when the listed diagnosis, service, timing, and other eligibility requirements are met.Read guide →Original, New, Secondary, Increase, and Previously Denied ClaimsUnderstand the practical difference between an original claim, a new issue, a secondary claim, an increased-rating claim, and a previously denied issue.Read guide →How Increased-Rating Claims WorkAn increased-rating claim asks VA to reevaluate the current severity of an already service-connected disability under the applicable rating criteria.Read guide →What to Do With a Previously Denied IssueStart with the latest decision letter: identify the exact issue, favorable findings, reason for denial, decision date, and which review lanes are available.Read guide →What Evidence Can Support a VA Disability Claim?Learn which medical, military, employment, and lay evidence can help—and how to match each document to a fact VA actually needs to decide.Read guide →Medical Evidence ExplainedMedical evidence documents diagnoses, symptoms, testing, treatment, prognosis, functional effects, and medical relationships; its value depends on what it actually addresses.Read guide →Service Treatment Records ExplainedService treatment records document military medical care and can help establish in-service symptoms, injuries, diagnoses, treatment, profiles, and separation findings.Read guide →Military Personnel Records and Duty HistoryPersonnel and duty records can document where, when, how, and in what status a veteran served—facts that medical records often do not contain.Read guide →VA Medical RecordsVA health records can document diagnoses, test results, medications, procedures, symptoms, and treatment over time; learn how to obtain and review the complete record.Read guide →Private Medical RecordsPrivate medical records cover non-VA care and may supply diagnoses, specialist findings, testing, treatment history, and functional information missing from VA systems.Read guide →Lay Evidence ExplainedLay evidence is firsthand non-expert testimony about events, symptoms, behavior, limitations, and other observable facts.Read guide →How to Write a Personal StatementWrite a focused VA personal statement using accurate firsthand facts, a clear timeline, specific examples, and no guessed medical conclusions.Read guide →How Buddy and Witness Statements WorkA buddy or witness statement gives VA a signed firsthand account from someone who observed a relevant event, symptom pattern, limitation, or change.Read guide →Medical Opinions and Nexus LettersA useful medical opinion addresses the correct legal-medical question, relies on accurate facts, and explains the reasoning connecting those facts to the conclusion.Read guide →What Is a DBQ?A Disability Benefits Questionnaire is a standardized form used to record medical findings relevant to a VA disability evaluation; it is evidence, not a decision.Read guide →How to Use a Symptom LogA symptom log records a condition consistently over time so frequency, duration, triggers, treatment, recovery, and functional effects are easier to describe accurately.Read guide →
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