The Board found that the appellant and the Veteran did not continuously cohabitate from the date of their marriage until the Veteran's death, due to the fault of the appellant. Therefore, she is not recognized as the surviving spouse for VA benefits purposes.
The deciding factor: The separation was primarily due to the appellant's illegal substance use and subsequent criminal behavior, which led to her living apart from the Veteran without his consent.
- Claimed conditions
- Not specified in this decision
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 4, 2015
- Citation
- 1505238
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 1505238.
What this means for you
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