The Board denied the appellant's claim for recognition as the surviving spouse of the Veteran for VA death benefits due to her not meeting the legal requirements, including being married less than one year prior to the Veteran's death and having a previous marriage that ended in divorce.
The deciding factor: The appellant was not legally married to the Veteran for at least one year prior to his death, as he had been previously married until July 2000 when they divorced. The Board found this insufficient to establish a valid common law marriage under VA regulations.
- Claimed conditions
- Not specified in this decision
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 10, 2015
- Citation
- 1538688
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 1538688.
What this means for you
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