that she was married to the
veteran at the time of his death and that it was her
responsibility to make the final arrangements. The appellant
stated that she would like to investigate the possibility of
hiring her own handwriting expert. She maintained that OIG
had made a mistake.
The appellee was provided notice of the 1999 hearing in
accordance with 38 C.F.R. § 20.713(a). After receiving the
transcript from the 1999 hearing, the appellee submitted a
statement in August 1999. S. stated that the only issue in
this case was whether the veteran had signed the 1996 change
in beneficiary form. OIG had concluded that he had not, and
the appellant had offered no evidence to the contrary.
In July 1999, the Board remanded this case to provide the
appellant an opportunity to obtain another forensic expert's
review. In January 2000, theforensic expert she hired
reviewed the file and made photocopies of pertinent
documents. Although the expert stated that he would submit
his report to VA, he did not do so. VA attempted to contact
him through his employer, with no success. VA also requested
a copy of the report from the appellant. In May 2000, the
appellant stated that the expert's report had been sent
directly to her, but his results were inconclusive. She did
not submit the report to VA. Instead, she submitted a
statement from I.N., now known as I.D., who had witnessed the
veteran's signature on the 1996 change of beneficiary form.
I.D. stated that the veteran told her he wanted to change his
insurance and he needed someone to witness his signature.
VA requested additional information from I.D. She responded
that she was a friend of the veteran