The Veteran's former spouse, the appellant, was not recognized as his surviving spouse for purposes of receiving VA death benefits because they were divorced at the time of the Veteran’s death.
The deciding factor: Recognition as a surviving spouse requires meeting specific requirements under VA regulations and laws. The appellant did not meet these requirements due to her divorce from the Veteran at the time of his 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
- July 10, 2019
- Citation
- 19153548
Veterans Law Judge
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 19153548.
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