The Veteran's spouse, the appellant, seeks recognition as his surviving spouse for VA death benefits. However, she is not eligible due to her prior marriage and lack of a common law marriage with the Veteran before April 2009.
The deciding factor: The appellant was legally married to another person until January 2009, which prevented any valid common law marriage between her and the Veteran.
- Claimed conditions
- Not specified in this decision
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 7, 2015
- Citation
- 1514852
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 1514852.
What this means for you
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