The Board denied the Appellant's claim of being recognized as the Veteran's surviving spouse for DIC benefits due to her divorce from the Veteran on his request, and because she was not married at the time of his death. The decision also noted that VA is not bound by findings made by other federal agencies such as SSA.
The deciding factor: The Board found that separation and divorce are separate concepts under 38 C.F.R. § 3.50(b)(1) and affirmed a Federal Circuit's holding in Haynes v. McDonald, which requires the veteran and claimed surviving spouse to be married at the time of the veteran's death.
- Claimed conditions
- Not specified in this decision
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 6, 2018
- Citation
- 1813670
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 1813670.
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