The Board denied the Appellant's claim for recognition as the Veteran's surviving spouse, finding that she did not meet the criteria for a valid common law marriage or an otherwise 'deemed valid' marriage due to lack of continuous cohabitation with the Veteran until his death.
The deciding factor: The evidence showed that the Veteran and the Appellant lived separately at times and there was no objective documentation connecting the Appellant to the Veteran's address for over a decade. The Board found her lay statements inconsistent with the objective evidence, particularly VA records indicating the Veteran lived alone prior to 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
- December 16, 2020
- Citation
- 20079462
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 20079462.
What this means for you
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