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Denied

The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for recognition of his current spouse, P.R., as a dependent for the payment of additional benefits based on dependency status is denied. The earliest relevant date is December 28, 2015, when VA was notified of P.R.'s existence.

The deciding factor: The Veteran did not submit evidence of their marriage within one year of the commencement of their marriage and instead submitted it after receiving a notification from VA to submit a VA Form 21-0538, Status of Dependents Questionnaire.

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 21, 2022
Citation
22071020

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 22071020.

What this means for you

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