The Veteran's death certificate listed his marital status as divorced, and the appellant reported that her marriage to the Veteran was terminated by divorce. The Board found that the appellant is not considered a surviving spouse due to the divorce between her and the Veteran.
The deciding factor: The appellant and the Veteran were legally divorced in December 1977, which bars her from being recognized as the surviving spouse of the Veteran for VA benefits purposes.
- Claimed conditions
- Not specified in this decision
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 4, 2019
- Citation
- 19100986
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,084 · Granted: 20% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 19100986.
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