38 CFR § 20.204 — Rule 204. Who can file a Notice of Disagreement

Title 38, Code of Federal Regulations · full text below reproduced from the eCFR, revision of 2026-07-01.

Regulation text

Every lettered or numbered paragraph has its own link (¶) and a Copy cite button, e.g. /cfr/20-204#a.

(a) Persons authorized. A Notice of Disagreement may be filed by a claimant personally, or by his or her representative if a proper Power of Attorney is on record or accompanies such Notice of Disagreement.¶

(b) Claimant rated incompetent by Department of Veterans Affairs or under disability and unable to file. If an appeal is not filed by a person listed in paragraph (a) of this section, and the claimant is rated incompetent by the Department of Veterans Affairs or has a physical, mental, or legal disability which prevents the filing of an appeal on his or her own behalf, a Notice of Disagreement may be filed by a fiduciary appointed to manage the claimant's affairs by the Department of Veterans Affairs or a court, or by a person acting as next friend if the appointed fiduciary fails to take needed action or no fiduciary has been appointed.¶

(c) Claimant under disability and able to file. Notwithstanding the fact that a fiduciary may have been appointed for a claimant, an appeal filed by a claimant will be accepted.¶

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 7105(b)(2)(A))

Amendment history

The eCFR versioner records no amendment to § 20.204 since 2016-12-14 (its point-in-time floor); the text above has been in force at least that long. Earlier amendments are listed in the section’s source note.

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