The appellant is denied recognition as the surviving spouse of the Veteran prior to January 23, 2011 due to a legal impediment in Maine. The Board found that she did not meet all criteria for the exception under 38 C.F.R. § 3.52.
The deciding factor: The appellant and the Veteran resided together as husband and wife from June 1984 to February 2011, but the State of Maine does not recognize common law marriage. The appellant did not meet all criteria for the exception under 38 C.F.R. § 3.52.
- Claimed conditions
- Not specified in this decision
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 6, 2019
- Citation
- 19134982
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 3,319 · Granted: 25% (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 19134982.
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