Where an attempted marriage of a claimant to the veteran was invalid by reason of a legal impediment, the marriage will nevertheless be deemed valid if:
(a) The marriage occurred 1 year or more before the veteran died or existed for any period of time if a child was born of the purported marriage or was born to them before such marriage (see § 3.54(d)), and
(b) The claimant entered into the marriage without knowledge of the impediment, and
(c) The claimant cohabited with the veteran continuously from the date of marriage to the date of his or her death as outlined in § 3.53, and
(d) No claim has been filed by a legal surviving spouse who has been found entitled to gratuitous death benefits other than accrued monthly benefits covering a period prior to the veteran's death.
(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 103(a))
Cross Reference:Definition, marriage. See § 3.205(c).
[26 FR 1567, Feb. 24, 1961, as amended at 27 FR 1215, Feb. 9, 1962; 32 FR 13224, Sept. 19, 1967; 41 FR 18299, May 3, 1976]
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
13
cases (
1 in the last 5 years), 1994–2021 · leading case:
Lamour v. Peake, 544 F.3d 1317 (Fed. Cir. 2008).
Lamour v. Peake, 544 F.3d 1317 (Fed. Cir. 2008).
· cites it 4× “§ 103 (a), and regulation, 38 C.F.R. § 3.52 , concerning when a marriage would be “deemed valid” for benefit eligibility purposes despite a “legal impediment,” and concluded that “none of the newly submitted evidence relates to whether the appellant’s marriage could be deemed…”
Dedicatoria v. Brown, 8 Vet. App. 441 (Vet. App. 1995).
· cites it 3× “§ 103 (a) and 38 C.F.R. § 3.52 an invalid marriage could be “deemed valid” if the appellant “was without knowledge of any legal impediment to [the] marriage.”
Sandoval v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 7 (Vet. App. 1994).
“§ 103 (a), if the claimant entered into the marriage and it was “invalid by reason of a legal impediment, the marriage will nevertheless be deemed valid if [t]he claimant entered into the marriage without knowledge of the impediment_” 38 C.F.R. § 3.52 (b) (1993); 38 U.S.C. § 103…”
Colon v. Brown, 9 Vet. App. 104 (Vet. App. 1996).
“§ 103 (a); see also 38 C.F.R. § 3.52 (1995). Furthermore: (c) Marriages deemed valid .”
06-38 772 (Board of Vet. App. 2016).
· cites it 7× “205 (a), meets the requirements of 38 C.F.R. § 3.52 , and signs a statement that she had no knowledge of an impediment to the marriage to the Veteran, and there is no information to the contrary.”
200813-89027 (Board of Vet. App. 2021).
· cites it 6× “Under 38 C.F.R. § 3.52 , an otherwise legally invalid marriage will be considered valid when (a) the marriage occurred more than 1 year before the veteran died; (b) the claimant entered into the marriage without knowing it would be invalid; (c) the claimant cohabitated with the…”
09-36 741 (Board of Vet. App. 2015).
· cites it 3× “1 (j) or 38 C.F.R. § 3.52 . 38 C.F.R. § 3.50 (b). Under 38 C.”
12-05 053 (Board of Vet. App. 2014).
· cites it 3× “38 C.F.R. § 3.52 . For a deemed valid marriage under 38 C.”
09-27 009 (Board of Vet. App. 2016).
“§ 103 (a); 38 C.F.R. § 3.52 . Here, although another claimant, K, has been found entitled to VA death benefits, the decision so finding is on appeal.”
12-11 934 (Board of Vet. App. 2017).
“A child of the surviving spouse of the Veteran, whose marriage to the Veteran is deemed valid under the provisions of 38 C.F.R. § 3.52 , and who otherwise meets the requirements of 38 C.”
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