The Veteran and the appellant were divorced in February 1985, and there is no evidence suggesting they lived together since then. The appellant was not considered the Veteran's spouse by marriage at the time of his death nor could she be considered a common law spouse. Therefore, the appellant is not entitled to recognition as the surviving spouse for VA benefits purposes.
The deciding factor: The appellant and the Veteran were divorced in February 1985, and there was no evidence of a common-law marriage or continuous living together since then. The legal criteria for recognizing a surviving spouse are not met.
- Claimed conditions
- Not specified in this decision
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 8, 2014
- Citation
- 1453989
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 1453989.
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