The appellant was denied recognition as the veteran's surviving spouse for VA death benefits purposes because she did not live continuously with the veteran from the date of marriage to the date of his death.
The deciding factor: The evidence showed that the appellant and the veteran were separated for approximately 16 years prior to the veteran's death, which is insufficient to establish continuous cohabitation as required by VA regulations.
- 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 15, 2009
- Citation
- 0901628
Veterans Law Judge
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 0901628.
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