How Same Sex Marriage is Handled During VA Benefits Claims

On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court held in Obergefell v. Hodges that the Fourteenth Amendment of the U. S. Constitution requires a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex and to recognize a marriage two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state.

Accordingly, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) may now recognize all same-sex marriages without regard to a Veterans’s state of residence. VA will generally accept a claimant’s statement that he or she is married, but may investigate further if an assertion appears unreliable. The same procedure applies regardless whether the claimant is in an opposite-sex marriage or a same sex marriage.

VA is dedicated to serving all eligible Service members, Veterans and their families and providing them the benefits they have earned. All Veterans is same-sex marriages who believe they are entitled to benefits, (including those whose claims were previously denied on a ground related to their marriage) are encouraged to promptly apply for benefits.

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