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Denied

The Board found that the appellant did not meet the criteria for being a surviving spouse of the veteran, as she and the veteran were separated continuously from the date of their marriage until the veteran's death. Therefore, the claim for non-service-connected death pension benefits was denied.

The deciding factor: The separation between the veteran and the appellant was due to mutual consent and not due to the misconduct or procurement by the veteran without fault on the part of the 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
July 1, 2008
Citation
0821527

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 0821527.

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