The veteran's daughter, S., is entitled to reinstatement of death benefits eligibility as a helpless child due to her marriage being void because she was legally incapacitated at the time of her marriage. The marriage has since been terminated by divorce.
The deciding factor: S.'s marriage was invalid and void due to her legal incapacity, which allowed for the reinstatement of death benefits eligibility.
- Claimed conditions
- mental retardation, associated psychiatric problems
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 14, 2006
- Citation
- 0617309
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,188 · Granted: 23% (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 0617309.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's son, B.L.H., is recognized as a 'helpless child' due to permanent incapacity for self-support prior to the age of 18. The Board found that B.L.H.'s mental development disability resulted in significant functional impairment and rendered him incapable of self-support before turning 18.
- Granted
The Veteran's adult son, who was rendered incapable of self-support prior to the age of 18 due to his disabilities, is recognized as a helpless child for purposes of entitlement to Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) benefits.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for additional dependency compensation on the basis that there is no evidence showing T.M. was permanently incapable of self-support prior to her 18th birthday.
- Granted
The Veteran's daughter, A.P., was permanently incapable of self-support due to cerebral palsy and mental retardation prior to her 18th birthday. The Board granted recognition as a helpless child for VA benefits.
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