The veteran and the appellant were not married for a period of one year or more prior to the veteran's death, nor did they have any children together. The Board found that the appellant is not entitled to recognition as the veteran's surviving spouse for VA purposes due to Florida state law prohibiting common law marriages.
The deciding factor: The marriage between the veteran and the appellant was dissolved by divorce and lasted only six weeks prior to the veteran's death, failing the requirement of being valid under the law of the place where they resided at the time of the marriage.
- 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 22, 2008
- Citation
- 0824484
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 0824484.
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