## Facts

- Julius J. Golz, a U.S. Navy veteran, received SSA disability benefits after a 1991 car accident causing severe low back and leg pain.
- The SSA disability decision described orthopedic impairments and did not mention psychiatric conditions or mental health evidence.
- In 2001, Golz sought VA benefits for PTSD; VA clinicians noted reported PTSD symptoms but no confirmed PTSD diagnosis or verified in-service stressors.
- The VA Regional Office denied service connection for PTSD; the denial became final when Golz did not appeal.
- Golz later sought to reopen the PTSD claim and argued VA breached its duty to assist by not obtaining his complete SSA disability file.
- The Board of Veterans’ Appeals found the SSA records not relevant to the PTSD claim because the SSA award was based on physical disability.
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims affirmed, finding no reasonable possibility the SSA records were relevant to PTSD.
- Golz appealed to the Federal Circuit, challenging the standard for when VA must obtain SSA records under 38 U.S.C. § 5103A and 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(c).

## Issues

1. Whether VA must obtain a claimant’s SSA disability records whenever the claimant reports receiving SSA benefits, or only when there is a reasonable possibility the records are relevant to the VA claim.
2. Whether VA may decline to obtain SSA records without reviewing them when available information shows the SSA records concern disabilities unrelated to the VA claim.

## Decision

- The Federal Circuit affirmed the Veterans Court.
- The court held VA’s duty to assist under 38 U.S.C. § 5103A is limited to obtaining relevant records.
- VA is not required to obtain SSA records when there is no reasonable possibility they are relevant to substantiating the specific VA claim.
- Because the SSA award was based on orthopedic impairments and contained no indication of psychiatric evidence, VA had no duty to obtain the SSA file for a PTSD service-connection claim.

## Legal Principles

- The duty to assist requires “reasonable efforts” to obtain evidence necessary to substantiate a claim, not every record that might conceivably exist.
- For federal-agency records (including SSA records), VA must seek only records that are relevant to the claim at issue.
- “Relevant” means there is a specific reason to believe the records may contain information that could help substantiate the particular claim, measured by a reasonable-possibility standard.
- SSA records are not automatically relevant merely because a claimant receives SSA disability benefits; relevance depends on the relationship between the SSA-disabling condition(s) and the VA-claimed disability.

## Conclusion

The Federal Circuit held that VA need not obtain SSA disability records when available information shows the SSA award concerns conditions unrelated to the VA claim, because § 5103A limits the duty to assist to records that have a reasonable possibility of being relevant to substantiating the specific benefit sought.


Golz v. Shinseki, 590 F.3d 1317 (Fed. Cir. 2010)