The Board found that the appellant and veteran were not legally married for a full year prior to the veteran's death, thus failing to meet the eligibility requirements for DIC benefits.
The deciding factor: The marriage was deemed invalid due to Indiana law not recognizing common-law marriages entered into after 1958. The appellant did not enter into an actual contract of marriage in the present tense with the veteran before September 26, 1997.
- Claimed conditions
- Not specified in this decision
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 10, 2002
- Citation
- 0200306
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0200306.
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