Survivors challenging VA decisions
Linda Kay Robison v. Collins
In brief
- Where it stands
- Petition Pending
Awaiting an order on the petition
- What it’s about
- Linda Kay Robison, a surviving spouse, asks the Supreme Court to let her challenge a VA decision made during her veteran spouse’s lifetime for a clear and unmistakable error (a serious, obvious mistake), seeking benefits she says were due but unpaid when the veteran died.
- What's at stake
- The unresolved question is whether Robison may seek review of her late spouse’s VA decision to obtain benefits she says were due but unpaid.
Summary: written with AI from the case record.
What it's about
She argues that two federal laws allow her to seek that review despite a Federal Circuit rule barring survivors from doing so.
The Federal Circuit has applied a rule from Haines v. West that bars a survivor from asking to revise a deceased veteran’s VA decision.
Question presented
Whether 38 U.S.C. §§ 5109A and 5121, together, permit the survivor of a deceased veteran to seek revision based on clear and unmistakable error, of a VA decision made during the veteran’s lifetime to obtain benefits due and unpaid at the veteran’s death; or whether the bar from Haines v. West bars survivors from obtaining review of error on the merits.
What happens next
The Court’s next step is to decide whether to hear the petition. No argument date or decision window is set while review remains pending.
Documents
Docket activity
New analysis added
AI analysis generated: Case Briefing
Case data updated: summary, question_presented, generation_metadata
Case data updated: question_presented, extraction_metadata
Brief added: Petition
Sources
Primary materials plus reporting. Best-effort analysis: this explainer relies on a mix of primary materials and trusted secondary sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.