Citation Nr: 20056718
Decision Date: 08/27/20	Archive Date: 08/27/20

DOCKET NO. 19-24 184
DATE: August 27, 2020

REMANDED

Entitlement to recognition of J. as the Veteran’s dependent spouse for VA purposes is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran, who is the appellant in this case, served on active duty from June 1987 to June 2007.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a December 2017 decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).  

Entitlement to recognition of J. as the Veteran’s dependent spouse for VA purposes.  

In August 2019, the Veteran submitted a Decree of Divorce purportedly ending J.’s marriage to G.D.  However, such decree is not signed by a judge and does not indicate the date of the divorce.  The header of the decree indicates that the divorce proceedings were held in the “District Court of Oklahoma County, State of Oklahoma.”  The Board notes that this is the only information that the Veteran has submitted regarding the details of J.’s divorce from G.D.  

While VA has repeatedly requested that the Veteran submit all of the necessary information regarding his and J.’s prior marriages, the record does not indicate that VA has requested this information directly from the appropriate Oklahoma County District Court.  Therefore, the Board finds that remand is necessary to attempt to obtain the information regarding J.’s divorce from G.D., to include, if necessary, obtaining from the appropriate court in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma a copy of any relevant divorce documents for J.’s marriage to G.D.  See 38 C.F.R. § 3.159.

The matter is REMANDED for the following action:

1. Ask the Veteran to submit a completed VA Form 21-686c, Declaration of Status of Dependents, including all information related to his and J.’s prior marriages and divorces.

2. Obtain and associate with the claims file any legal documents from the appropriate court clerk in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma that are relevant to the dissolution of J.'s previous marriage to G.D.  All attempts to obtain these records should be documented in the claims file. If the records are determined to be unavailable, that should be noted in the record.

3. Then, readjudicate the issue on appeal.]

 

 

S. B. MAYS

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	M. Thomas, Counsel

The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.