Citation Nr: 18100511 Decision Date: 04/17/18 Archive Date: 04/16/18 DOCKET NO. 01-05 355A DATE: April 17, 2018 ISSUES DECIDED: 1 ISSUES REMANDED: 0 ORDER Payment of additional VA compensation for a dependent spouse is denied. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The validity of the Veteran’s assertion that his marriage to JA is valid is in question. 2. Adequate documentation is not of record showing the Veteran’s divorces and marriages so as to establish the existence of a current valid marriage to a dependent spouse for whom payment of additional VA compensation is warranted. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to payment of additional VA compensation for a dependent spouse have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 103(c), 5124 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.1(j), 3.204, 3.205, 3.206 (2017). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from September to November 1971. He requests additional VA compensation for his spouse. An additional amount of compensation may be payable for a spouse and child where a veteran is entitled to compensation based on disability evaluated as 30 percent or more disabling. 38 U.S.C. § 1115; 38 C.F.R. § 3.4(b)(2). VA will accept the written statement of a claimant as proof of marriage or birth of a child for purposes of determining entitlement to benefits as long as the statement contains the month, year, and place of the event, the full name and relationship of the other person to the claimant, and the dependent’s social security number. 38 C.F.R. § 3.204(a)(1). Other evidence is required under certain circumstances, such as where the claimant’s statement on its face raises a question of its validity or the claimant’s statement conflicts with other evidence of record. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.204(a)(2). A spouse of a veteran is a person whose marriage to the Veteran is valid according to the law of the place where the parties resided at the time of the marriage or the law of the place where the parties resided when the right to benefits accrued. 38 U.S.C. § 103(c) (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 3.1(j). VA will accept, for the purpose of determining entitlement to benefits under laws administered by VA, the statement of a claimant as proof of marriage, dissolution of a marriage, birth of a child, or death of a dependent, provided that the statement contains: the date (month and year) and place of the event; the full name and relationship of the other person to the claimant. 38 U.S.C. § 5124(a), (b); 38 C.F.R. § 3.204(a)(1). VA shall require corroborating evidence to verify a marriage where: the claimant does not reside within a state; the claimant’s statement on its face raises a question of its validity; the claimant’s statement conflicts with other evidence of record; or, there is a reasonable indication, in the claimant’s statement or otherwise, of fraud or misrepresentation of the relationship in question. 38 U.S.C. § 5124(c); 38 C.F.R. § 3.204(a)(2). Failure to furnish the higher class of evidence, however, does not preclude the acceptance of a lower class if the evidence furnished is sufficient to prove the point involved. 38 C.F.R. § 3.204(b). Under 38 C.F.R. § 3.205(a), marriage is established by one of the following types of evidence (in the order of preference): 1) Copy or abstract of the public record of marriage, or a copy of the church record of marriage, containing sufficient data to identify the parties, the date and place of marriage, and the number of prior marriages if shown on the official record; 2) Official report from service department as to marriage which occurred while the Veteran was in service; 3) The affidavit of the clergyman or magistrate who officiated; 4) The original certificate of marriage, if VA is satisfied that it is genuine and free from alteration; 5) The affidavits or certified statements of two or more eyewitnesses to the ceremony; 6) In jurisdictions where marriages other than by ceremony are recognized the affidavits or certified statements of one or both of the parties to the marriage, if living, setting forth all of the facts and circumstances concerning the alleged marriage, such as the agreement between the parties at the beginning of their cohabitation, the period of cohabitation, places and dates of residences, and whether children were born as the result of the relationship. This evidence should be supplemented by affidavits or certified statements from two or more persons who know as the result of personal observation the reputed relationship which existed between the parties to the alleged marriage including the periods of cohabitation, places of residences, whether the parties held themselves out as married, and whether they were generally accepted as such in the communities in which they lived; or, 7) Any other secondary evidence which reasonably supports a belief by the adjudicating activity that a valid marriage actually occurred. In the absence of conflicting information, proof of marriage which meets the requirements of 38 C.F.R. § 3.205(a) together with the claimant’s certified statement concerning the date, place and circumstances of dissolution of any prior marriage may be accepted as establishing a valid marriage, provided that such facts, if they were to be corroborated by record evidence, would warrant acceptance of the marriage as valid. Where necessary to a determination because of conflicting information or protest by a party having an interest therein, proof of termination of a prior marriage will be shown by proof of death, or a certified copy or a certified abstract of final decree of divorce or annulment specifically reciting the effects of the decree. 38 C.F.R. § 3.206(b). The validity of a divorce decree regular on its face will be questioned by VA only when such validity is put in issue by a party thereto or a person whose interest in a claim for VA benefits would be affected thereby. In cases where recognition of the decree is thus brought into question, where the issue is the validity of marriage to a Veteran following a divorce, the matter of recognition of the divorce by VA (including any question of bona fide domicile) will be determined according to the laws of the jurisdictions specified in § 3.1(j). 38 C.F.R. § 3.206(b). Turning to the evidence, the record shows that the Veteran applied for service-connected benefits for schizophrenia in August 2000. This claim was eventually granted in a January 2012 Board decision. A March 2012 rating decision implemented the Board’s decision and granted a 100 percent rating from August 31, 2000. He has been denied dependent benefits for his spouse on the basis that he has not provided all the necessary information and supporting documentation. In April 2012, the Veteran called the RO to advise that he was married to JA and that the marriage had taken place in August 2005. He further stated that he had been married before in San Juan to NPR, but that he did not know the dates of that marriage. Several days later, he called the RO again to report that he had married NPR in May 1977 and that they had divorced in 1982. He did not know the month. The Veteran has provided a marriage certificate for his marriage to JA, but he has not provided any supporting documentation for his other marriages. A September 2000 statement by NPR reflects that she and the Veteran had known each other since 1975 and that they were married and divorced at some point, but does not provide start and end dates for the marriage. In September 2012, the Veteran supplied a VA Form 21-686c, Declaration of Status of Dependents, on which he stated that he had been married to JA since August 2005 and that he had been married a total of five times. He submitted another VA Form 61-686c in June 2013, on which he provided the same information. Despite being informed by the RO on multiple occasions that this information was insufficient, over the course of the appeal, he has forwarded multiple copies of these two documents, but he has not provided a newly completed copy with supporting documents. On the September 2012 form, he stated that he had lost copies of the documentation of his prior divorces. The Veteran argues that because it is only his most recent spouse JA for whom he seeks benefits, the information requested regarding his prior marriages is unnecessary. However, under the relevant laws and regulations, such information is needed. Without proof of the end of the Veteran’s marriage to NPR, the Board cannot declare the marriage to JA valid. A veteran’s statement as to the validity or dissolution of a marriage generally will be accepted if it contains the full name of the spouse and month of date of the marriage and/or divorce. Neither of the Veteran’s August 2012 telephone calls provided the month of the divorce from NPR. Further, he did not report NPR on either the September 2012 or June 2013 VA Forms 21-686c. Finally, the DD Form 214 states that his date of birth was December 25, 1952. As his marriage to NPR began in May 1977, he would have been approximately 24.5 years of age when they married. This information, taken together with his reports that he has been married five times total and that NPR was his last wife before JA, indicates that he was married and divorced or widowed three times before he reached 24.5 years of age. While not impossible, it seems rather improbable that he was married that many times by that age. For these reasons, his statements alone are insufficient proof of the start and end of any marriage prior to his marriage to JA. The Board is aware that the Veteran’s prior marriages likely took place several decades ago and likely in Puerto Rico. However, the public records documenting his marriages and divorces should be readily available, and nothing in the record reflects that he has made any effort to obtain those records. The Veteran’s statements have raised a question of the validity of his claim, and it is necessary that he provide documentation to support his contentions. He has been advised of the information he must provide, but he has not provided it. Based on the above analysis, the Veteran’s assertions that he is legally married to JA are questionable and that there is no documentary or other evidence that supports their validity. Therefore, the appeal is denied. L. HOWELL Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD K. M. Schaefer, Counsel