The Board denied the appellant's claim to be recognized as the Veteran's surviving spouse for VA death benefits due to a lack of valid marriage under Washington state law, despite living together and engaging in multiple engagements.
The deciding factor: The appellant and the Veteran were legally married but did not meet the one-year marriage requirement for VA purposes due to legal impediments. The Board found that common-law marriage was invalid by reason of these impediments.
- Claimed conditions
- Not specified in this decision
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 11, 2022
- Citation
- 22001393
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,050 · Granted: 32% (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 22001393.
What this means for you
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