38 CFR: The Sections Claims Actually Turn On

Title 38 runs to thousands of sections; a working claim file touches a few dozen. These are those sections — the official text as of 2026-07-01, a one-line practice note, and links to the free calculators that implement the math. Looking for a specific diagnostic code instead? See the rating-code pages.

Part 3 — Adjudication (claims, evidence, service connection, effective dates)

• § 3.1DefinitionsDefinitions the rest of Part 3 leans on — check here first when a term reads oddly.
• § 3.102Reasonable doubtThe benefit-of-the-doubt rule: when positive and negative evidence are in approximate balance, the veteran wins the point. Cite it whenever
• § 3.103Procedural due process and other rightsThe procedural due-process floor for VA claimants: notice, hearing rights, and representation.
• § 3.151Claims for disability benefitsWhat counts as a claim for disability benefits and how it must be filed.
• § 3.155How to file a claimIntent to File: locks an effective date for one year while the complete claim is prepared. The year is unforgiving — track it.
• § 3.156New evidenceNew and relevant (post-AMA) / new and material (legacy) evidence — the gateway for reopening and for supplemental claims. §3.156(c) service-
• § 3.159Department of Veterans Affairs assistance in developing claimsVA's duty to assist: what VA must obtain (federal records, an adequate exam) before deciding. Duty-to-assist error is the most common remand
• § 3.160Status of claimsClaim status definitions — pending, finally adjudicated, reopened.
• § 3.303Principles relating to service connectionThe root service-connection rule: in-service event, current disability, and a link. §3.303(b) chronicity and continuity; §3.303(d) post-serv
• § 3.304Direct service connection; wartime and peacetimeDirect service connection specifics, including §3.304(f) PTSD: stressor standards differ by combat, fear of hostile activity, and MST.
• § 3.306Aggravation of preservice disabilityAggravation of a preexisting condition during service — the presumption and what rebuts it.
• § 3.307Presumptive service connection for chronic, tropical, or prisoner-of-war related disease, disease associated with exposure to certain herbicide agents, or disease associated with exposure to contaminants in the water supply at Camp Lejeune; wartime and service on or after January 1, 1947The mechanics of presumptive service connection: qualifying service windows and manifestation deadlines that pair with §3.309.
• § 3.309Disease subject to presumptive service connectionThe presumptive condition lists themselves — chronic diseases, herbicide (Agent Orange), radiation.
• § 3.310Disabilities that are proximately due to, or aggravated by, service-connected disease or injurySecondary service connection: disabilities proximately caused OR aggravated by a service-connected condition. The most under-claimed path in
• § 3.317Compensation for certain disabilities occurring in Persian Gulf veteransGulf War undiagnosed illness and medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illness.
• § 3.320Claims based on exposure to fine particulate matterBurn pit / particulate matter presumptions (PACT Act era).
• § 3.321General rating considerationsExtraschedular ratings when the schedule doesn't capture the disability picture.
• § 3.340Total and permanent total ratings and unemployabilityTotal ratings — permanence and total disability definitions.
• § 3.350Special monthly compensation ratingsSpecial Monthly Compensation levels — what each letter (K through R/T, S) actually requires.
• § 3.352Criteria for determining need for aid and attendance and “permanently bedridden.”Aid and attendance / housebound criteria that feed §3.350.
• § 3.400GeneralEffective dates — the money section. Generally the later of receipt date or entitlement date, with the exceptions that create retro pay.
• § 3.655Failure to report for Department of Veterans Affairs examinationFailure to report for a VA exam: what happens to original claims vs. reopened/increase claims. A missed exam can convert a strong file into
• § 3.2500Review of decisionsThe AMA review menu after any decision: Higher-Level Review, Supplemental Claim, or Board appeal — and the continuous-pursuit effective-date
• § 3.2501Supplemental claimsSupplemental claims: new and relevant evidence, and the one-year continuous-pursuit window.
• § 3.2601Higher-level reviewHigher-Level Review: same evidence, senior reviewer. §3.2601(d) — the request must be RECEIVED within the year, not postmarked.

Part 4 — Rating Principles (how percentages actually work)

• § 4.1Essentials of evaluative ratingThe rating schedule's purpose: average impairment of earning capacity.
• § 4.2Interpretation of examination reportsRaters must interpret exams against the whole recorded history — a snapshot exam can't override the file.
• § 4.3Resolution of reasonable doubtReasonable doubt resolved in the veteran's favor — Part 4's twin of §3.102.
• § 4.6Evaluation of evidenceEvaluation of evidence: every element considered, conclusions stated.
• § 4.7Higher of two evaluationsWhen a disability picture sits between two ratings, the HIGHER applies if it more nearly approximates that level. One of the most cite-worth
• § 4.10Functional impairmentFunctional impairment is the measure — ability to function under the ordinary conditions of daily life including employment.
• § 4.14Avoidance of pyramidingPyramiding: the same manifestation can't be rated twice — but distinct manifestations of one condition can each be rated. Know the line.
• § 4.15Total disability ratingsTotal disability ratings — the general standard.
• § 4.16Total disability ratings for compensation based on unemployability of the individualTDIU: paid at 100% without a 100% rating. §4.16(a) schedular thresholds (60% single / 70% combined with one 40%); §4.16(b) extraschedular re
• § 4.19Age in service-connected claimsAge may not be a factor in evaluations — unemployability cannot be attributed to age.
• § 4.25Combined ratings tableThe combined ratings table — why 50% + 30% is 65% → 70%, not 80%. The whole-person math.
• § 4.26Bilateral factorThe bilateral factor: paired extremities combine first, plus 10% of that value.
• § 4.27Use of diagnostic code numbersHow diagnostic codes are built and hyphenated — and VA's own statement that the numbers are arbitrary.
• § 4.40Functional lossFunctional loss due to pain — the muscle counterpart to DeLuca factors.
• § 4.45The jointsJoints: less movement, weakened movement, excess fatigability, incoordination, pain on movement — the checklist an adequate joint exam must
• § 4.59Painful motionPainful motion: actually painful joint motion is entitled to at least the minimum compensable rating. Small section, large consequences.
• § 4.85Evaluation of hearing impairmentHow hearing loss is mechanically rated from puretone + Maryland CNC — Tables VI/VIa/VII.
• § 4.86Exceptional patterns of hearing impairmentExceptional hearing-loss patterns that unlock Table VIa.
• § 4.115aRatings of the genitourinary system—dysfunctionsRenal and voiding dysfunction rating formulas.
• § 4.124aSchedule of ratings—neurological conditions and convulsive disordersNeurological schedule principles, incl. how radiculopathy attaches to spine ratings.
• § 4.130Schedule of ratings—Mental disordersThe mental disorders general rating formula — symptom examples are illustrative, not a checklist (Mauerhan).

Parts 19–20 — Appeals & Board Practice

• § 19.2Appellant's election for review of a legacy appeal in the modernized systemLegacy vs. AMA: which system a case is in decides every deadline that follows.
• § 20.3Rule 3. DefinitionsBoard practice definitions.
• § 20.104Rule 104. Jurisdiction of the BoardThe Board's jurisdiction — what it can and cannot decide.
• § 20.110Rule 110. Computation of time limit for filingComputation of time: when a Board filing period ends on a weekend or holiday, it runs to the next business day.
• § 20.202Rule 202. Notice of DisagreementFiling the NOD (VA Form 10182) — the Board lane, docket choices, and the one-year clock.
• § 20.203Rule 203. Place and time of filing of Notice of DisagreementNOD requirements and how the Board treats defective filings.
• § 20.204Rule 204. Who can file a Notice of DisagreementDocket switching at the Board — when and how.
• § 20.205Rule 205. Withdrawal of appealWithdrawing an appeal — must be explicit; withdrawal ends the fight.
• § 20.300Rule 300. GeneralWho may file: the claimant or the accredited representative of record.
• § 20.302Rule 302. Appeals with a request for a Board hearingLegacy-system appeal deadlines (still governs pre-AMA cases).
• § 20.303Rule 303. Appeals with no request for a Board hearing, but with a request for submission of additional evidenceThe Board evidence windows: 90 days from NOD receipt (evidence docket) or 90 days after the hearing (hearing docket).
• § 20.1303Rule 1303. Nonprecedential nature of Board decisionsBoard decisions are non-precedential — each binds only its own case. Cite them as persuasive worked examples, not binding law.
• § 20.1305Rule 1305. Procedures for legacy appellants to request a change in representation, personal hearing, or submission of additional evidence following certification of an appeal to the Board of Veterans' AppealsRequesting a hearing or submitting evidence after certification (legacy).