The Veteran's surviving spouse is recognized for VA benefits purposes due to living together as husband and wife under a common law marriage, despite the lack of legal recognition in Missouri and Illinois.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the appellant’s marriage to the Veteran prior to the June 2013 ceremonial marriage was deemed valid for VA benefits purposes based on continuous cohabitation and the appellant's unawareness of the legal impediment (non-recognition of common law marriages in Missouri and Illinois).
- 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 3, 2019
- Citation
- 19124950
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,506 · Granted: 43% (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 19124950.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
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