The Board denied the Appellant's claim for recognition as the Veteran's surviving spouse, which would have allowed her to receive VA DIC, survivor's pension, or accrued benefits.
The deciding factor: The evidence showed that the Appellant and the Veteran were divorced in 1980 and did not enter into a common-law marriage after their divorce. The Board found the Veteran's reports of being divorced and referring to the Appellant as his ex-wife to be more probative than statements made by the Appellant many years later.
- 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 22, 2025
- Citation
- A25109867
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 622 · Granted: 17% (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 A25109867.
What this means for you
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