The Board denied the appellant's claim for recognition as the veteran's surviving spouse, finding that she was not married to him at the time of his death and thus could not be considered his surviving spouse.
The deciding factor: The divorce decree in question was valid, even though the appellant did not sign it. The brevity of the time between the divorce and the veteran's death does not affect the validity of the marriage or the status as a surviving spouse.
- Claimed conditions
- Not specified in this decision
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 14, 2005
- Citation
- 0503890
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 673 · Granted: 27% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 0503890.
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