The Board denied the appellant's claim for recognition as the Veteran's surviving spouse for purposes of DIC and death pension benefits due to a lack of clear and convincing evidence that they entered into a valid common law marriage prior to 1991, despite living together for over a decade.
The deciding factor: VA medical records from before 1991 did not support the appellant's claim of a pre-1991 common law marriage in Ohio, with the Veteran consistently identifying himself as single and his address as that of a friend or girlfriend.
- Claimed conditions
- Not specified in this decision
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 15, 2024
- Citation
- 24008114
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 24008114.
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