Granted

The Board has determined that the appellant may be recognized as the surviving spouse of the Veteran for purposes of VA death benefits due to their continuous cohabitation and acceptance in their community, despite Missouri's non-recognition of common law marriage.

The deciding factor: The Board accepted the appellant's statement that she was unaware of the legal impediment (Missouri's non-recognition of common law marriage) at the time of the invalid marriage, thus deeming it valid under VA regulations.

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 28, 2020
Citation: 20081052

Veterans Law Judge

Paul Sorisio

Decisions by this judge: 1,960 · Granted: 36% (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 20081052.

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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