The Board found that the appellant did not establish a valid common law marriage with the Veteran, and therefore, she cannot be recognized as his surviving spouse for VA death benefits.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not show continuous cohabitation from the date of any attempted marriage in Maryland until the Veteran's death, which is required to establish a valid common law marriage under applicable local laws.
- 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 8, 2018
- Citation
- 1808114
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 1808114.
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