38 CFR § 19.50 - Who can file an appeal.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t38/s19.50"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "38 CFR § 19.50 - Who can file an appeal."
title_number: 38
title_name: "Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief"
section_number: "19.50"
section_name: "Who can file an appeal."
chapter_name: "DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS"
part_number: "19"
part_name: "BOARD OF VETERANS' APPEALS: LEGACY APPEALS REGULATIONS"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-04-05"
last_updated: "2026-04-05"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "38 U.S.C. 501(a), unless otherwise noted."
regulatory_source: "57 FR 4104, Feb. 3, 1992, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "19"
---


# 19.50 Who can file an appeal.

(a) *Persons authorized.* A Notice of Disagreement and/or a Substantive Appeal may be filed by a claimant personally, or by his or her representative if a proper Power of Attorney or declaration of representation, as applicable, is on record or accompanies such Notice of Disagreement or Substantive Appeal.

(b) *Claimant rated incompetent by Department of Veterans Affairs or under disability and unable to file.* If an appeal is not filed by a person listed in paragraph (a) of this section, and the claimant is rated incompetent by the Department of Veterans Affairs or has a physical, mental, or legal disability which prevents the filing of an appeal on his or her own behalf, a Notice of Disagreement and a Substantive Appeal may be filed by a fiduciary appointed to manage the claimant's affairs by the Department of Veterans Affairs or a court, or by a person acting as next friend if the appointed fiduciary fails to take needed action or no fiduciary has been appointed.

(c) *Claimant under disability and able to file.* Notwithstanding the fact that a fiduciary may have been appointed for a claimant, an appeal filed by a claimant will be accepted.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 7105(b)(2) (2016))

[57 FR 4109, Feb. 3, 1992. Redesignated and amended at 84 FR 177, 179, Jan. 18, 2019]