Claim Raven explanation
What this means
VA may accept public or church records, an original certificate, an officiant’s statement, eyewitness statements, evidence of a marriage recognized without a ceremony, or other reliable secondary evidence.
For a marriage claimed under section 3.52 despite a legal impediment, VA can accept the claimant’s signed statement that the impediment was unknown when the other requirements are met and the record contains no contrary information.
How this helps your claim
The evidence needed depends on the kind of marriage and whether the file contains conflicting information. When no conflict appears, VA may accept qualifying proof of the current marriage together with a certified statement about how earlier marriages ended. Conflicting information can require proof of death, divorce, or annulment.
What to check in your records
Compare the names, dates, places, and prior-marriage information across the marriage evidence and explain any discrepancy directly.
- Obtain a marriage record showing the parties, date, place, and any prior-marriage information it contains.
- Keep final divorce or annulment decrees or death records for prior spouses when VA requests proof that an earlier marriage ended.
- For a marriage without a ceremony, gather detailed statements about the agreement, cohabitation, residences, public reputation, and applicable jurisdiction.
Resolve conflicts instead of sending duplicates
If two records show different names or dates, identify why. A name-change document, corrected certificate, or focused statement can be more useful than another copy of the same conflicting record.
For a non-ceremonial marriage, describe the law and facts separately. Evidence that the couple lived together or was viewed as married helps establish facts, but the relationship must also meet the law of the relevant jurisdiction.
Is a marriage certificate the only evidence VA accepts?
No. This section lists several forms of primary and secondary evidence. The strength and amount of evidence needed can change when information conflicts or the claimed marriage was not ceremonial.
Official regulatory text
38 CFR § 3.205
eCFR snapshot: 2026-09-17. Layout and spacing are adapted for reading. The full section and its tables are included below.
§ 3.205 Marriage.
(a) Proof of marriage. Marriage is established by one of the following types of evidence:
(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 the Department of Veterans Affairs 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.
(7) Any other secondary evidence which reasonably supports a belief by the Adjudicating activity that a valid marriage actually occurred.
(b) Valid marriage. In the absence of conflicting information, proof of marriage which meets the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section 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.
(c) Marriages deemed valid. Where a surviving spouse has submitted proof of marriage in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section and also meets the requirements of § 3.52, the claimant's signed statement that he or she had no knowledge of an impediment to the marriage to the veteran will be accepted, in the absence of information to the contrary, as proof of that fact.
(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501)
Cross References:
Marriages deemed valid. See § 3.52. Definitions; marriage. See § 3.1(j). Evidence of dependents and age. See § 3.204.
[26 FR 1572, Feb. 24, 1961, as amended at 27 FR 6281, July 3, 1962; 36 FR 20946, Nov. 2, 1971; 40 FR 53581, Nov. 19, 1975; 45 FR 72655, Nov. 3, 1980; 47 FR 28096, June 29, 1982; 52 FR 19349, May 22, 1987; 58 FR 37857, July 14, 1993; 59 FR 46338, Sept. 8, 1994; 62 FR 5529, Feb. 6, 1997]
Related references
- 38 CFR § 3.50: Who VA recognizes as a spouse or surviving spouse
- 38 CFR § 3.52: When VA may deem an attempted marriage valid
- 38 CFR § 3.54: Marriage-duration rules for VA survivor benefits
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