Tools
VA Disability Calculator
Combine your ratings the way the VA does (38 CFR 4.25), with the bilateral factor. Runs in your browser.
Open tool →Personal Statement Builder (VA Form 21-4138)
Your own account, in your own words: guided prompts and condition-aware examples for a strong personal statement.
Open tool →Buddy Statement Builder (VA Form 21-10210)
Walks a witness through a strong lay or buddy statement: what they saw in service and the symptoms they've observed since.
Open tool →Nexus Letter Checklist
Check the letter your doctor wrote against the six things the VA actually weighs, and print a brief to hand your provider.
Open tool →Start Here
Filing a Claim
When to File (and the Intent-to-File Trick)
Timing your claim to protect your effective date and your back pay.
Read the guide →
How to File a Claim, Step by Step
The forms, the channels, and the order of operations from start to finish.
Read the guide →
The Evidence That Wins a Claim
The three legs of service connection and the nexus that ties them together.
Read the guide →
The C&P Exam: What to Expect
What the examiner is really measuring, and how to walk in prepared.
Read the guide →Getting Paid More
TDIU: Paid at 100% Without a 100% Rating
How the VA can pay the full rate on a lower schedular rating.
Read the guide →
How to Increase Your Rating
Filing for more without triggering a reduction of what you already have.
Read the guide →
Secondary Conditions: One Rating, More Pay
How one service-connected condition opens the door to several more.
Read the guide →Rates & Conditions
Combined Ratings: Why 50 + 50 Isn't 100
How the VA combines your ratings instead of adding them, and how to read your own number.
Read the guide →
2026 Rate Tables & Dependent Add-Ons
How the monthly payment is built, and how dependents raise it.
Read the guide →
Sleep Apnea: The CPAP 50% Rule
The rating tiers for sleep apnea and why a CPAP prescription matters.
Read the guide →Family & Survivors
The whole field manual, free
Every guide here is one slice of Volume 1. Download the full PDF, or start with the orientation volume.
↓ Download Volume 1 (PDF)