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Denied

The appellant is not recognized as the veteran's surviving spouse for VA death benefits, and the child does not meet income requirements for improved death pension benefits.

The deciding factor: The marriage between the appellant and the veteran was deemed invalid under Thai law due to lack of registration. The child also exceeds the income limits set by VA for non-service-connected death pension benefits.

Claimed conditions
Not specified in this decision
How they argued it
Not specified
Exposure basis
None
Rating assigned
None in this decision
Decision date
December 11, 2003
Citation
0334640

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 0334640.

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