Veteran Disability question

[alpharaven]

Jurisdiction

California

My father-in-law signed over his right to claim disability in order to be medically discharged from the military a year early. He was training as a SEAL and fell on a pole and screwed up his hip back in the 1980s. He has major back and hip issues, along with many other medical issues stemming from his time in the military, to include getting Hepatitis A from an infected needle by a medic.

He assumes since he signed his rights away that it is binding, but this sounds sketchy as hell and some kind of backdoor deal they did to avoid having to be responsible for all the major injuries they caused him. Also, he was young and likely just went with it without realizing the repercussions.

Does anyone know if having a military person sign over their rights to claim disability to get their medical discharge earlier is a legit thing and if it stands up in court, or if this has been struck down as some exploitative and manipulative thing they did back in the 80's that doesn't hold up in the present day?

 

[adjusterjack]

I suggest that your father-in-law bring the question to any of the many free legal services for veterans.

legal assistance for veterans at DuckDuckGo

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[Tax Counsel]

I'm assuming that your father in law was an enlisted sailor in the Navy or enlisted marine at the time this happened. In the 1980s, as now, enlisted military personnel sign contracts when they enlist and when they renew their enlistment. The main deal in the contract is that the soldiers/seamen/marines/airmen agree to serve for a certain period of time in exchange for specified benefits and pay. In short, he was obligated to serve the full period in the contract unless some situation, like disability, caused the Navy to discharge him. Since the Navy did not start the process to medically discharge him, my guess is that the Navy still considered him fit enough for duty. If that was the case, then to get out early he needed permission to do it; i.e. agreement by the Navy to terminate his obligation early. The Navy was willing to do that if he agreed to give up claiming disability later. Under basic contract law, that's a modification to the contract that would hold up as both sides provided consideration for the change, modifying the existing contract. That would be enforceable under contract law if he was old enough to be competent to enter into contracts at the time (which is age 16-19 depending on the state). I doubt anything in military law would supercede the contract law here and invalidate a contract made with the military for any reason other than those that under the common law would invalidate contracts.

That said, there's no harm in him asking either the JAG office for the branch of the military he was in, a lawyer for a military member advocacy/support organization, or a private attorney who practices in the area of military law to look over whatever documents he has (and I hope he kept copies of what he signed) for advice on any options he may have today to claim military disability benefits along with asking about any other benefits he may be entitled to receive that he doesn't know about.

He should still be eligible for VA medical benefits and he might qualify for Social Security disability or full Social Security/Medicare benefits depending on his age and whether he has sufficient credits with Social Security for that.

 

[alpharaven]

I'm assuming that your father in law was an enlisted sailor in the Navy or enlisted marine at the time this happened. In the 1980s, as now, enlisted military personnel sign contracts when they enlist and when they renew their enlistment. The main deal in the contract is that the soldiers/seamen/marines/airmen agree to serve for a certain period of time in exchange for specified benefits and pay. In short, he was obligated to serve the full period in the contract unless some situation, like disability, caused the Navy to discharge him. Since the Navy did not start the process to medically discharge him, my guess is that the Navy still considered him fit enough for duty. If that was the case, then to get out early he needed permission to do it; i.e. agreement by the Navy to terminate his obligation early. The Navy was willing to do that if he agreed to give up claiming disability later. Under basic contract law, that's a modification to the contract that would hold up as both sides provided consideration for the change, modifying the existing contract. That would be enforceable under contract law if he was old enough to be competent to enter into contracts at the time (which is age 16-19 depending on the state). I doubt anything in military law would supercede the contract law here and invalidate a contract made with the military for any reason other than those that under the common law would invalidate contracts.

That said, there's no harm in him asking either the JAG office for the branch of the military he was in, a lawyer for a military member advocacy/support organization, or a private attorney who practices in the area of military law to look over whatever documents he has (and I hope he kept copies of what he signed) for advice on any options he may have today to claim military disability benefits along with asking about any other benefits he may be entitled to receive that he doesn't know about.

He should still be eligible for VA medical benefits and he might qualify for Social Security disability or full Social Security/Medicare benefits depending on his age and whether he has sufficient credits with Social Security for that.

Thanks so much! Sorry I only know the shorthand version of the story, but I'll prod him for the details of whether they expected him to stay in the whole enlistment and only get the medical discharge and early departure by signing off his benefits. I'll see if he has a copy of the signed document as well as talk to JAG or one of the other options you mentioned. I really appreciate the help!