The appellant was not recognized as the Veteran's surviving spouse for VA death benefits purposes due to a lack of legal recognition under Philippine law, despite living together continuously from June 2001.
The deciding factor: The appellant and the Veteran lived together in violation of Philippine law which does not recognize common law marriages. The appellant was aware of this at the time they began cohabitating.
- 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 24, 2009
- Citation
- 0927781
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 0927781.
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