UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR VETERANS CLAIMS
No. 16-3438
SAMANTHA E. CARR, APPELLANT,
V.
DENIS MCDONOUGH,
SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, APPELLEE.
ROBERT M. CARR, INTERVENOR
On Remand from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
(Decided February 19, 2021)
Samantha E. Carr, pro se.
Meghan Flanz, Interim General Counsel; Mary Ann Flynn, Chief Counsel; Selket N. Cottle,
Deputy Chief Counsel; and Sara W. Fusina, Senior Appellate Attorney, all of Washington, D.C.,
were on the brief for the appellee.
Robert M. Carr, pro se, as intervenor.
Before BARTLEY, Chief Judge, and PIETSCH and TOTH, Judges.
TOTH, Judge: Air Force veteran Robert Carr transferred a portion of his 48 months of
education benefits to his daughter, Samantha Carr, so that she could pay for her college tuition.
After she used these benefits to pay for two semesters, Ms. Carr began the fall 2013 semester with
a single day of entitlement remaining. Invoking 38 C.F.R. § 21.9635(o), she sought to extend her
benefits until the end of the semester, but the Board determined that subsection (y) of that
regulation prohibited a transferee from receiving an extension—even though a veteran in the same
situation would be entitled to one.
Ms. Carr brought this appeal to challenge the validity of § 21.9635(y), arguing that it is
inconsistent with its authorizing statute, 38 U.S.C. § 3319. We didn’t reach that question in our
initial decision because we concluded that 38 U.S.C. § 3695 prevented anyone—veteran or
dependent—from receiving benefits in excess of 48 months. The Federal Circuit reversed our
decision, however, interpreting the phrase “may receive” as referring not to the amount of benefits
a person may receive,