About 100,000 U.S. military veterans call the state of Maine home. Many veterans living in Maine suffer from a variety of disabilities as a result of their service.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (the VA) and the state of Maine provide many kinds of benefits and other assistance to disabled Maine veterans. At the Stone Rose Law firm, our experienced attorneys help disabled veterans receive all the benefits they are entitled to, including initial and follow-on claims for Veterans Affairs (VA) monthly compensation.
If you have recently left active duty military service and need help knowing what federal and state disability, healthcare, and other veterans benefits you can apply for in Maine, call us at (480) 498-8998 to speak with and schedule a free case evaluation with one of our veterans’ benefits specialists.
The VA also provides monthly compensation benefits to disabled vets who qualify for them. If you have suffered a physical disability or disabling medical condition while serving in the military, then depending on how serious your service-connected disabilities are, you could receive up to 100% or total disability-based compensation.
In addition to monthly compensation, the VA makes many other kinds of benefits available to disabled veterans. Even if you receive a 0% disability rating with no monthly compensation payment, you may still be eligible for other valuable veterans’ services like medical benefits, VA educational benefits, mental health counseling, and even VA home loan eligibility.
The VA presence in Maine is substantial. It includes the Togus VA Medical Center, the Togus Regional Benefit Office, Vet Centers in Bangor, Lewiston, Portland, Sanford, and Northern Maine, and clinics and Community Outpatient Clinics in more than 10 other locations throughout the state.
The VA offers multiple ways for disabled veterans in Maine to file for VA disability claims benefits.
The easiest way is to file online. You can also submit your completed application to the Togus VA Regional Office by mail, fax, or in person.
When you submit your benefits claim to the VA, you must satisfy three criteria to receive disability compensation:
The VA uses multiple factors to determine if you are eligible for VA benefits.
Active duty service members typically only need proof of active military service. However, there are a few automatic disqualifications, like service members who received a dishonorable discharge or, in some cases, an other-than-honorable discharge. If you need help upgrading your military discharge, an experienced VA lawyer can help you appeal to your Discharge Review Board.
A disability is a current physical impairment or any psychological or emotional disability that your active duty military service either caused or made worse.
VA benefits compensate veterans whose service-connected disability incapacitates them. Usually, the best way to show a disability is to provide medical records as official documentation.
Proving a service connection, or that one or more disabling events that happened to you while you were serving in the military, is the key to qualifying for disability compensation. Your service medical records and any post-service medical treatment records you have received will be essential to the evidence supporting your claim.
However, there are some medical conditions the VA considers presumed disabilities and do not require you to prove a connection to military service.
Some veterans’ disability claims get denied based on a lack of service connection. One of our VA disability attorneys at Stone Rose Law can help you gather all the documents and other support you need to clear this potential obstacle to your benefits claim approval.
Below are some other medical conditions that the VA will consider based on indirect and direct service connections.
A latent medical condition is a condition that existed before entering the military but was not disabling at that time. If a latent condition gets worse after you leave the service, the VA will consider whether something happened to you while serving to aggravate it.
Another way you can receive a service-connected disability is if it comes from a different disability that is service-connected.
For example, your doctor might diagnose you as having post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) based on a service-related injury you experienced in service. If your PTSD treatment includes drugs that have led you to a Type 2 Diabetes condition, you may still be able to trace a secondary service connection by showing that the PTSD treatment caused your diabetes.
Another factor the VA will evaluate is whether your disability relates to your military service. The VA may deny your claim if the VA believes your injury, illness, or disabling condition comes from doing something unrelated to a service-connected condition.
If the VA approves your initial or additional disability compensation claim, it will assign you a VA disability rating. Your rating will range from 0% (non-compensable) to 100%.
The VA calculates your disability based on the number of conditions you’re experiencing and the severity of your symptoms.
One of our Stone Rose Law VA lawyers can help prove the extent of your disability when you’re filing for veterans benefits. Our VA Disability Calculator can help you estimate how much you may receive in monthly disability payments if you have multiple disabilities.
Monthly disability compensation is a recurring payment given by the VA based on your combined disability rating. The higher your disability rating, the more you can receive.
The VA also matches your disability to a benefit amount based on the current year’s rates.
For 2025, the disability rating compensation for an individual veteran is as follows:
| Your Combined VA Disability Rating | VA 2025 Monthly Compensation |
|---|---|
| 10% | $175.51 |
| 20% | $346.95 |
| 30% | $537.42 |
| 40% | $774.16 |
| 50% | $1,102.04 |
| 60% | $1,395.93 |
| 70% | $1,759.19 |
| 80% | $2,044.89 |
| 90% | $2,297.96 |
| 100% | $3,831.30 |
These monthly payments increase for disabled veterans with dependents.
If you have one or more dependents, and your combined disability rating is at least 30%, then you can qualify for additional monthly compensation depending on how many qualifying dependents you have.
A qualifying dependent can include:
Special monthly compensation (SMC) is available if you are a disabled veteran whose service-connected disability is severe enough that you need more than what a 100% disability rating provides.
SMC is available depending on criteria including specific disabilities like the loss of a limb or creative organ, whether you need aid and attendance from someone else, if you are completely and permanently housebound, or if you have suffered a traumatic brain injury and need regular aid and attendance as a result.
Except for SMC category K, SMC benefits replace the monthly compensation benefit you would otherwise receive.
The VA rates SMC benefits through the letters K, L, M, N, O, P, R, S, and T.
Here are the 2025 SMC compensation amounts.
| Your SMC Category | Your 2025 SMC Monthly Benefit | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| K | $136.06 | Paid in addition to your 100% monthly disability compensation |
| L | $4,767.34 | |
| L-½ | $5,013.79 | |
| M | $5,261.24 | |
| M-½ | $5,622.75 | |
| N | $5,985.06 | |
| N-½ | $6,337.11 | |
| O and P | $6,689.22 | No difference in pay between these two categories |
| R-1 | $9,559.22 | |
| R-2 and T | $10,964.66 | No difference in pay between these two categories |
| S | $4,288.45 |
If you are a qualifying surviving dependent of a veteran whose death was caused by that person’s military service, then you may be eligible for dependency and indemnity compensation, or DIC.
The base DIC monthly compensation amount for 2025 is $1,653.06. This amount can increase based on factors like whether the deceased veteran was totally disabled, whether a surviving spouse requires aid and attendance services or is housebound because of a disability, and whether a surviving spouse has children under age 18.
A Stone Rose Law veterans disability attorney can help you learn which ones may apply to you.
In addition to the federal veterans’ benefits that the VA provides, the Maine Department of Veterans Services offers its own veterans’ benefits for which Maine veterans may be eligible. Eligibility for some benefits may depend on residency, military component, and Veteran disability status.
Here are some Maine state benefits available to disabled veterans:
Some of these benefits may have specific eligibility requirements or application processes, and not all benefits may be available to all veterans. An experienced veterans disability benefits lawyer can help you determine which state veterans benefits you may be eligible to receive.
At Stone Rose Law, our VA disability lawyers begin with a systematic and methodical approach to your specific VA claim. After consultation with an accredited VA disability benefits attorney, our attorneys will obtain a copy of your VA claims file to review and look for:
If you have never applied for VA benefits, we will assist you at no cost in preparing and filing a claim. We will also monitor your claim, help you prepare for C&P examinations, and advise you of any VA decisions as part of this free service.
The VA may initially deny a claim if they believe there is insufficient evidence of a service-connected disability or if they make a mistake internally during the initial processing.
Some of the most common problems we see in VA benefits claims include:
There are three ways to challenge a VA decision based on a disability claim denial letter:
Appealing to the Board comes with its own set of choices and options. These include:
To present a convincing appeal to a denied veterans disability claim, you need to thoroughly understand VA regulations and procedures, how the VA applies them, and the time limit you must work within.
This is what a Stone Rose Law VA disability claim denial lawyer will do for you.
Appealing a claim denial is something we recommend you do with the extensive experience of a Stone Rose Law VA claims appeal attorney on your side. One of our experienced veterans’ appeals attorneys at Stone Rose Law can guide you through the veterans’ disability appeals process until the matter is resolved.
Our law firm is accredited by the Department of Veterans Affairs to represent veterans and is admitted to practice VA disability law before the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.
We will charge a reasonable, one-time contingency fee based on your VA award if we win your appeal.
If we are not successful with your appeal, you owe us nothing.
Going up against the Department of Veterans Affairs is never easy, but it is not something you should fear. This is especially true if you have legal help from a VA disability attorney.
Our legal team of veterans disability attorneys is dedicated to representing veterans in Maine with disability claims for your service-connected disabilities. Our veterans advocates have a proven track record of helping veterans throughout the benefits claim process, including a formal hearing before the Board of Veterans Appeals.
Contact us today to discuss how our law firm and veterans lawyers can help you with your initial claim, supplemental claim, or VA appeal. Schedule a free evaluation with a VA disability benefits lawyer by calling (480) 498-8998 or contact us online.
