West & Dunn is proud to support the 2018 Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest. At a time when more veterans are expressing interest in becoming entrepreneurs, the 15th annual Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest is accepting entries online for the 2018 competition until 5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. In 2016, for example, a Madison-area […]

On November 29, 2017 the Department of Veteran’s Affairs announced that it will begin accepting applications for Veteran Identification Cards (“VIC”) for all honorably discharged veterans of the United States. The implementation of this program comes as a relief to many veterans, as the cards will permit them to avoid using a Form DD-214 (Certificate

Beginning today, November 10, 2017, all honorably discharged veterans will be eligible for tax shopping via the Army and Air Force Exchange Service’s online portal, The Exchange. By way of explanation, on November 1, Exchange Director and CEO Tom Shull published the following editorial: In a matter of days, the Army & Air Force Exchange Service, along with

In order to prevail on a claim for VA disability benefits, a veteran must be able to demonstrate that the claimed condition is connected to their service.  Demonstrating this service connection element can be difficult, if not impossible, when it comes to diseases or conditions for which the cause is not always readily apparent.  Beginning

President Trump presented his 2017 budget to Congress back in May. This budget calls for significant increases in spending, but also contains some troubling cuts. One of the more significant proposed cuts would have resulted in the loss of more than $3 billion to veterans suffering from service connected disabilities that are so severe they

The Backlog.  The backlog of pending claims for veterans’ disability benefits has become the bogeyman that haunts the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Over the past several years VA exerted substantial efforts to exorcise this demon at the initial filing stage. In other words, VA focused its attention, with mixed results, on shortening the time it

During the month of March the law firm Van Every Creedon is offering trademark services for veterans at a flat rate of $995. The offer includes the clearance search, government filing fee, and trademark monitoring for the year. This is a phenomenal opportunity to which veteran business owners should give serious consideration. The importance of

On a Friday afternoon in late February, the US Department of Veterans Affairs filed a motion with the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. In this motion, the VA asked the court to stay (lawyer-speak for “pause”) the effect of the court’s decision in a case called Staab v. Shulkin. The Staab case addresses the question of when the VA

Most people are familiar with the statistics commonly bandied about regarding the relatively high divorce rates of military personnel. Although these rates generally are not quite as high in non-military populations, divorce remains relatively common among veterans. Questions commonly arise as to what impact the end of a marriage will have upon veterans’ military pensions.