The Board has determined that the appellant is entitled to recognition as the Veteran's surviving spouse for purposes of VA death benefits. The underlying issue of entitlement to death pension benefits, including income and net worth requirements, will be remanded to the RO.
The deciding factor: The attempted common law marriage between the Veteran and appellant was deemed valid for VA purposes due to lack of knowledge of the impediment in Pennsylvania's nonrecognition of common law marriages after January 1, 2005.
- Claimed conditions
- Not specified in this decision
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 16, 2013
- Citation
- 1341368
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 1341368.
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.
What you can do next
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- Denied
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- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD is granted as the evidence shows a current diagnosis of PTSD, an in-service stressor, and a medical link between the two.
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