The Board denied the appellant's claim for recognition as the surviving spouse of the veteran, finding that she did not meet the one-year marriage requirement prior to the veteran's death.
The deciding factor: The essential element lacking in this case is a valid marriage for a year prior to the veteran's death. The appellant submitted her marriage certificate showing her marriage to the veteran in September 2003, and there was no evidence of a legal marriage before that time.
- Claimed conditions
- Not specified in this decision
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 20, 2006
- Citation
- 0621376
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,592 · Granted: 19% (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 0621376.
What this means for you
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