The appellant is entitled to recognition as the veteran's surviving spouse for purposes of VA death benefits.
The deciding factor: The evidence shows that a common law marriage existed between the veteran and the appellant, which meets all the criteria under Utah law. The Board finds that the equitable result is to honor this relationship, thereby enabling receipt of VA death pension benefits.
- Claimed conditions
- Not specified in this decision
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 6, 2009
- Citation
- 0900451
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,500 · Granted: 29% (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 0900451.
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.
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