38 C.F.R. § 3.54

Marriage dates

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A surviving spouse may qualify for pension, compensation, or dependency and indemnity compensation if the marriage to the veteran occurred before or during his or her service or, if married to him or her after his or her separation from service, before the applicable date stated in his section.

(a) Pension. survivors pension may be paid to a surviving spouse who was married to the veteran:

(1) One year or more prior to the veteran's death, or

(2) For any period of time if a child was born of the marriage, or was born to them before the marriage, or

(3) Prior to the applicable delimiting dates, as follows:

(i) Civil War—June 27, 1905.

(ii) Indian wars—March 4, 1917.

(iii) Spanish-American War—January 1, 1938.

(iv) Mexican border period and World War I—December 14, 1944.

(v) World War II—January 1, 1957.

(vi) Korean conflict—February 1, 1965.

(vii) Vietnam era—May 8, 1985.

(viii) Persian Gulf War—January 1, 2001.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 532(d), 534(c), 536(c), 541(e), 541(f))

(b) Compensation. Death compensation may be paid to a surviving spouse who, with respect to date of marriage, could have qualified as a surviving spouse for death compensation under any law administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs in effect on December 31, 1957, or who was married to the veteran:

(1) Before the expiration of 15 years after termination of the period of service in which the injury or disease which caused the veteran's death was incurred or aggravated, or

(2) One year or more, or

(3) For any period of time if a child was born of the marriage, or was born to them before the marriage.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 1102)

(c) Dependency and indemnity compensation. Dependency and indemnity compensation payable under 38 U.S.C. 1310(a) may be paid to the surviving spouse of a veteran who died on or after January 1, 1957, who was married to the veteran:

(1) Before the expiration of 15 years after the termination of the period of service in which the injury or disease causing the death of the veteran was incurred or aggravated, or

(2) For 1 year or more, or

(3) For any period of time if a child was born of the marriage, or was born to them before the marriage.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 1304)

(d) Child born. The term child born of the marriage means a birth on or after the date of the marriage on which the surviving spouse's entitlement is predicated. The term born to them before the marriage means a birth prior to the date of such marriage. Either term includes a fetus advanced to the point of gestation required to constitute a birth under the law of the jurisdiction in which the fetus was delivered.

(e) More than one marriage to veteran. For periods commencing on or after January 1, 1958, where a surviving spouse has been married legally to a veteran more than once, the date of the original marriage will be used in determining whether the statutory requirement as to date of marriage has been met.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 103(b)) [26 FR 1567, Feb. 24, 1961, as amended at 27 FR 6498, July 10, 1962; 32 FR 13224, Sept. 19, 1967; 40 FR 16064, Apr. 9, 1975; 40 FR 48680, Oct. 17, 1975; 41 FR 18300, May 3, 1976; 44 FR 22718, Apr. 17, 1979; 54 FR 31829, Aug. 2, 1989; 56 FR 5756, Feb. 13, 1991; 56 FR 57986, Nov. 15, 1991; 65 FR 3392, Jan. 21, 2000]

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 15 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1992–2021 · leading case: Nancy C. Gazaille v. Robert A. McDonald, 27 Vet. App. 205 (Vet. App. 2014).

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Nancy C. Gazaille v. Robert A. McDonald, 27 Vet. App. 205 (Vet. App. 2014). · cites it 2× “Gazaille does not dispute the Board's findings that she and her husband were not married for a full year prior to his death and that a common law marriage did not exist under the laws of either New York or Connecticut.”

Lamour v. Peake, 544 F.3d 1317 (Fed. Cir. 2008). “See also 38 C.F.R. § 3.54 (listing marriage requirements for all death benefits).”

Sandoval v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 7 (Vet. App. 1994). “§ 103 (a); 38 C.F.R. § 3.54 (a)(1). However, according to the Secretary’s own regulation and to 38 U.”

Colon v. Brown, 9 Vet. App. 104 (Vet. App. 1996). “§ 1541 (a); see also 38 C.F.R. § 3.54 (1995). The veteran served from December 1953 to December 1955, and that time period fell during a “period of war” as defined in 38 U.”

Michele D. Burden v. Eric K. Shinseki, 25 Vet. App. 178 (Vet. App. 2012). “§ 1102 (denying DIC to a surviving spouse unless, inter alia, the surviving spouse was married to a veteran for one year or more at the time of the veteran’s death); 38 C.F.R. § 3.54 (2011) (same). In response to the RO’s determination, Mrs.”

Hollie v. Wilkie (Fed. Cir. 2020). · cites it 2× “Hollie’s argument that she met the requirements for benefits under 38 C.F.R. § 3.54 because she was married to Mr.”

200813-89027 (Board of Vet. App. 2021). · cites it 2× “§§ 1102 , 1304, 1532, 1534, 1536, 1541; 38 C.F.R. § 3.54 (a). With respect to the latter, the applicable delimiting date in the instant case is May 8, 1985, based on the Veteran’s active duty service during the Vietnam era from August 1974 to August 1976.”

Tapuro v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 154 (Vet. App. 1992). · cites it 3× “*155 The corresponding regulation is 38 C.F.R. § 3.54 : A surviving spouse may qualify for pension, compensation, or dependency and indemnity compensation if the marriage to the veteran occurred before or during his or her service or, if married to him or her after his or her…”

09-42 341 (Board of Vet. App. 2016). “38 C.F.R. § 3.54 (c). Status as a surviving spouse is a threshold requirement for death compensation benefits.”

16-26 944 (Board of Vet. App. 2017). “See 38 C.F.R. § 3.54 . A basic threshold requirement is that the claimant must be the veteran's "surviving spouse" as defined in applicable law and VA regulations.”

Louann Wolfe v. Robert L. Wilkie (Vet. App. 2020). “In a September 2011 Supplemental Statement of the Case, the RO explained that, pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 3.54 (b)(2), to establish entitlement to death benefits the appellant must have been married to the veteran for 1 year or more prior to his death.”

Wolfe v. McDonough (Fed. Cir. 2021). “Wolfe’s claim—citing 38 C.F.R. § 3.54 (b)(2)—because “a spouse (whether with a marriage certificate, or as common law) must have been ‘married’ to the veteran for one year or more prior to his death in order to establish her entitlement to death bene- fits.”

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