Michele D. BURDEN, Claimant-Appellant, v. Eric K. SHINSEKI, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Respondent-Appellee. Helen C. Coleman, Claimant-Appellant, v. Eric K. Shinseki, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Respondent-Appellee.
Nos. 2012-7096, 2012-7122
United States Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
July 16, 2013
Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied in No. 2012-7122 Sept. 26, 2013. Rehearing and Rehearing En banc Denied in No. 2012-7096 Sept. 30, 2013.
721 F.3d 1161
Elizabeth M. Hosford, Senior Trial Counsel, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, of Washington, DC, argued for respondent-appellee in aрpeal no. 2012-7096. With her on the brief were Stuart F. Delery, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Jeanne E. Davidson, Director, and Todd M. Hughes, Deputy Director. Of counsel on the brief were David J. Barrans, Deputy Assistant General Counsel, and Tracey P. Warren, Attorney, United States Department of Veteran Affairs, of Washington, DC. Of counsel was Katy M. Bartelma, Trial Attorney, United States Department of Justice, of Washington, DC.
Jennifer C. Tempesta, Baker Botts, L.L.P., of New York, NY, argued for claimant-appellant in appeal no. 2012-7122.
Katy M. Bartelma, Trial Attorney, Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, United States Department of Justice, of Washington, DC, argued for respondent-appellee in appeal no. 2012-7122. With her on the brief were Stuart F. Delery, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Jeanne E. Davidson, Director, and Kirk T. Manhardt, Assistant Director. Of counsel on the brief were David J. Barrans, Deputy Assistant General Counsel, and Lara K. Eilhardt, Attorney, United States Department of Veterans Affairs, of Washington, DC. Of counsel were Elizabeth Marie Hosford, Senior Trial Counsel, United States Department of Justice, of Washington, DC; and Jonathan Elliott Taylor, Attorney, United States Department of Veteran Affairs, of Washington, DC.
Before DYK, MAYER, and MOORE, Circuit Judges.
MAYER, Circuit Judge.
Michele D. Burden (“Mrs. Burden“) and Helen C. Coleman (“Mrs. Coleman“) appeal final judgments of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (“Veterans Court“) denying their claims for dependency and indemnity compensation (“DIC“). See Burden v. Shinseki, 25 Vet. App. 178 (2012) (“Burden Decision“); Coleman v. Shinseki, No. 09-3480, 2012 WL 638764, 2012 U.S.App. Vet. Claims LEXIS 350 (Feb. 29, 2012) (“Coleman Decision“). Because we conclude that the Veterans Court correctly determined that state law, including state law evidentiary burdens, must be applied in determining the validity of a purported common law marriage, we affirm.
I. BACKGROUND
A. MRS. BURDEN‘S APPEAL
Louis Burden (“Burden“), a Vietnam veteran, served on active duty in the United States Army from January 1948 until October 1968. He married Mrs. Burden in a ceremonial marriage on April 27, 2004. Two months later, on June 30, 2004, Burden died. In August 2004, Mrs. Burden applied for DIC benefits, but a regional office (“RO“) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA“) denied her claim, concluding that she was ineligible for benefits because she had not been married to Burden for at least one year prior to his death. See
In response, Mrs. Burden submitted a “Statement of Marital Relationship” in which she asserted that she and Burden had been living in a common law marriage for five years prior to his death. She also provided the RO with a number of lay statements supporting her claim that she had lived with Burdеn as man and wife in a common law marriage for several years prior to his death. After the RO again denied her claim, Mrs. Burden appealed to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (“board“). She provided the board with additional evidence to support her claim that she had entered into a valid common law marriage prior to the date of her ceremonial marriage, including a photocopy of a church raffle ticket that had been purchased in 2001 by “Lou and Michele Burden,” and a statement from a long-time friend of the Burdens who asserted that the couple had lived “as husband and wife” during the last six years of Burden‘s life.
Although the board acknowledged that Mrs. Burden had provided some evidence to support her claim that she had entered into a common law marriage prior to the date of her ceremonial marriage, it concluded that such evidence did not constitute the “clear and convincing proof” required to establish a valid common law marriage under Alabama law. The board noted that during his lifetime Burden had “provided no statements suggesting that he had consented to enter” into a common law marriage. To the contrary, Burden had indicated on several occasions thаt he was not married. In October 1998, Burden told his private physician that he was single and did not “want to get too involved.” In March 1999, Burden informed his physician that he had a “girlfriend,” but did not mention that he had a wife. In a November 2002 application for VA benefits, Burden indicated that he was “[d]ivorced” and stated that his brother, Anthony Burden, was his “nearest relative.” After reviewing this evidence, the board concluded that “[t]here was no indication that [Burden] considered himself married” prior to the time of his 2004 ceremonial marriage.
Mrs. Burden then appealed to the Veterans Court. She asserted that the board erred in applying Alabama‘s clear and convincing proof standard to the question of whether she had entered into a valid common law marriage. In her view, the board should instead have applied the “benefit of the doubt” rule contained in
The Veterans Court affirmed the board‘s decision, concluding that it had properly applied Alabama‘s clear and convincing proof standard to the question of whether the Burdens had entered into a valid common law marriage prior to their 2004 ceremonial marriage. Id. at 182-86. The court determined that section 5107(b)‘s benefit of the doubt rule does not apply when determining the existence of a valid common law marriage because “Congress specifically addressed the standard of proof that must be applied by the Secretary” when it enacted
B. MRS. COLEMAN‘S APPEAL
Willie L. Coleman (“Coleman“) served on active duty in the United States Army from October 1960 until Dеcember 1963. He married Mrs. Coleman on November 28, 1969, and the couple had eight children. The Colemans divorced in 1982. Mrs. Coleman asserts, however, that she reconciled with Coleman after their divorce and that they lived together as husband and wife in a common law marriage until the time of his death in June 2001.
In July 2001, Mrs. Coleman filed a claim with the VA seeking DIC benefits, as well as death pension and accrued benefits. The RO denied her claim, however, after concluding that she was not married to Coleman at the time of his death. On appeal, the board affirmed. The board explained that the law of Alabama, where the Colemаns resided, must be applied to the question of whether they had entered into a valid common law marriage, and that Alabama requires “clear and convincing proof” of the elements of such a marriage. Although it acknowledged that the Colemans had lived together for periods after their divorce and that Coleman‘s death certificate indicated that he was married at the time of his death, the board determined that there was insufficient evidence to establish that the Colemans had entered into a valid common law marriage after their divorce. The board noted that in 1983 Coleman informed the VA thаt he lived alone, and a 1990 VA hospitalization report stated that Coleman was divorced and lived with his grandmother. Furthermore, when Mrs. Coleman filed a claim in 1994 seeking apportionment of Coleman‘s VA disability benefits, she asserted that she was the “ex-wife of the veteran.” According to the board, such facts were “inconsistent with finding [that Mrs. Coleman] had an agreement or mutual understanding with [Coleman] to enter into a marriage relationship following their divorce in 1982.”
Mrs. Coleman then appealed to the Veterans Court, arguing that the board had failed to consider all the evidence of record in denying her claim for VA benеfits. The court affirmed the board‘s decision, concluding that it had not “erred in any facet of its evaluation of the evidence” or in its “application of law and regulation.” Coleman Decision, 2012 WL 638764, at *2, 2012 U.S.App. Vet. Claims LEXIS 350, at *6.
II. DISCUSSION
A. STANDARD OF REVIEW
Our jurisdiction to review decisions of the Veterans Court is circumscribed
B. DETERMINING THE VALIDITY OF A MARRIAGE
For purpоses of obtaining DIC benefits, the validity of a marriage is determined “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.”
On appeal, both Mrs. Burden and Mrs. Coleman acknowledge that the VA must look to Alabama law in determining the existence of a valid common law marriage. They argue, however, that “[a]lthough the elements of common-law marriage derive from state law, evidentiary issues are governed by federal law.” In their view, the VA should have applied section 5107(b)‘s “benefit of the doubt” rule, rather than Alabama‘s clear and convincing proof standard, when determining whether they had met the prerequisites for establishing a valid common law marriage. In support, they argue that Alabama‘s clear and convincing proof standard has no place in the uniquely pro-claimant system for adjudicating veterans’ claims.
We do not find this reasoning persuasive. As the Veterans Court correctly concluded, section 103(c) requires the VA to apply state law, including state law еvidentiary burdens, in determining whether the criteria for a valid common law marriage have been satisfied. See Burden Decision, 25 Vet.App. at 183; Coleman Decision, 2012 WL 638764, at *1 n. 1, 2012 U.S.App. Vet. Claims LEXIS 350, at *2 n. 1.
C. THE STATUTORY LANGUAGE
“If the intent of Congress is clear, that is the end of the matter; for [a] court ... must give effect to the unambiguously expressed intent of Congress.” Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837, 842-43, 104 S.Ct. 2778, 81 L.Ed.2d 694 (1984) (footnote
Certain statutory provisions give the VA broad discretion to determine the evidence necessary to substantiate the facts and circumstances pertinent to the award of VA benefits. See
Alabama recognizes common law marriage and views it “as a co-equal, alternate method of validating the connubial union of two people.” Piel v. Brown, 361 So. 2d 90, 93 (Ala. 1978); see also Adams, 559 So.2d at 1087 (“Once the man and woman have established a present agreement or mutual consent to enter into the marriage relationship, permanent and exclusive of all others, a common law marriage is equal in validity with a ceremonial marriage.“). Because of “the serious nature of the marriage relationship,” however, Alabama “courts will closely scrutinize a claim of common-law marriage and require clear and convincing proof thereof.” Etheridge, 465 So.2d at 380 (citations and internal quotations omitted); see also Goodman v. McMillan, 258 Ala. 125, 61 So. 2d 55, 59 (1952). We see nothing in the text of section 103(c) that would permit the VA to disregard Alabama‘s rigorous standard of proof for establishing a valid common law marriage. To the contrary, the failure to apply the clear and convincing proof requirement would eviscеrate an essential element of state law. See Cruzan ex rel. Cruzan v. Dir., Mo. Dep‘t of Health, 497 U.S. 261, 283, 110 S.Ct. 2841, 111 L.Ed.2d 224 (1990) (explaining that a state may adopt a clear and convincing standard of proof to “reflect the importance of a particular adjudication” and to “serve[] as a societal judgment about how the risk of error should be distributed between the litigants” (citations and internal quotation marks omitted)).
Significantly, in determining whether a claimant seeking federal benefits has entered into a valid mаrriage under the laws of a particular state, courts apply not only the substantive elements of state law, but also state law evidentiary burdens. In Dickey v. Office of Personnel Management, for example, this court determined that the District of Columbia‘s preponderance of the evidence standard must be applied in determining the validity of a common law marriage for purposes of obtaining survivor annuity benefits from the federal employee retirement program. 419 F.3d 1336, 1340 (Fed.Cir.2005). Likewise, a claimant seeking Social Security survivor benefits must satisfy the evidentiary burdens required by state law in order to establish a valid common law marriage. See Gainey v. Barnhart, 299 F.3d 1004, 1006 n. 3 (8th Cir. 2002) (explaining that under Michigan law a common law marriage must be established by clear and convincing evidence); Chlieb v. Heckler, 777 F.2d 842, 845 (2d Cir. 1985) (stating that under Ohio law a common law marriage must be established by clear and convincing evidence); Weiner v. Astrue, No. 09-7088, 2010 WL 691938, at *4, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18120, at *13 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 25, 2010) (explaining that under the law of the District of Columbia a common law marriage must be established by a preponderance of the evidence). We are constrained to follow a similar approach here.4 We see nothing in section 103(c)
D. RESOLVING INTERPRETATIVE DOUBT
“Congress has expressed special solicitude for the veterans’ cause,” and has created a uniquely pro-claimant system for adjudicating claims for VA benefits. Shinseki v. Sanders, 556 U.S. 396, 412, 129 S.Ct. 1696, 173 L.Ed.2d 532 (2009); see Henderson ex rel. Henderson v. Shinseki, 562 U.S. 428, 440, 131 S.Ct. 1197, 1204, 179 L.Ed.2d 159 (2011). Accordingly, in construing veterans’ benefits legislation “interpretive doubt is to be resolved in the veteran‘s favor.” Brown v. Gardner, 513 U.S. 115, 118, 115 S.Ct. 552, 130 L.Ed.2d 462 (1994); see also Fishgold v. Sullivan Drydock & Repair Corp., 328 U.S. 275, 285, 66 S.Ct. 1105, 90 L.Ed. 1230 (1946) (explaining that veterans’ “legislation is to be liberally construed for the benefit of those who left private life to serve their country in its hour of great need“). Here, however, this pro-veteran canon of construction would not necessarily advance the interpretation of section 103(c) advocated by Mrs. Burden and Mrs. Coleman. “The applicable statutes that provide benefits to children of a deceased veteran are different depending on whether the veteran leaves a surviving spouse.” Hanlin v. Nicholson, 474 F.3d 1355, 1356-57 (Fed.Cir.2007); see
We reject, moreover, the contention that the “benefit of the doubt” rule contained in section 5107(b) precludes the VA from applying state law evidentiary standards to questions related to the validity of a marriage.5 Section 5107(b) re- quires
This does not mean, however, that section 5107(b) has no applicability in determining whether a purported common law spouse is entitled to receive DIC compensation. As the Veterans Court correctly recognized, section 103(c), by its own terms, provides only that the “validity” of a marriage must be established under state law. Once the validity of a marriage has been established, “the ‘benefit of the doubt’ doctrine is applicable to the rest of the entitlement determination, which includes making determinations about the length of the marriage, when the marriage began, and whether a child was born to the marriage.” Burden Decision, 25 Vet.App. at 186.
E. THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN SECTION 103(A) AND SECTION 103(C)
We must construe the words of a statute “in their context and with a view to their place in the overall statutory scheme.” Davis v. Mich. Dep‘t of Treasury, 489 U.S. 803, 809, 109 S.Ct. 1500, 103 L.Ed.2d 891 (1989); United Sav. Ass‘n v. Timbers of Inwood Forest Assocs., 484 U.S. 365, 371, 108 S.Ct. 626, 98 L.Ed.2d 740 (1988) (emphasizing that “[s]tatutory construction ... is a holistic endeavor” and “[a] provision that may seem ambiguous in isolation is often clarified by the remainder of the statutory scheme“). A comparison of the language of section 103(a) with that of section 103(c) reinforces the conclusion that section 103(c) requires the application of state law evidentiary standards. Section 103(a) provides thаt a marriage can be “deemed” valid when a claimant was unaware that there was a legal impediment to an otherwise valid marriage. For example, if a claimant married a first cousin and was unaware that state law prohibited such a marriage, that marriage could nonetheless be deemed valid pursuant to section 103(a).6 See Lamour v. Peake, 544 F.3d 1317, 1322-23 (Fed.Cir.2008).
Section 103(a) thus provides a limited exception to section 103(c)‘s requirement that the validity of a marriage must be established under state law, and can be invoked only in situations in which a claimant was unaware that there was a legal impediment to his or her marriage. See Lamour, 544 F.3d at 1323; see also Colon v. Brown, 9 Vet.App. 104, 107-08 (1996).
Significantly, section 103(a) specifically says that a marriage will be deemed valid only if “it is established by evidence satisfactory to the Secretary” that a putative spouse was unaware of a legal impediment to an otherwise valid marriage. Thus, section 103(a) expressly delegates to the VA the authority to determine the evidence necessary to establish a “deemed valid” marriage. Section 103(c), by contrast, provides the VA with no such authority. Instead, as discussed previously, section 103(c) requires that the validity of a marriage must be “proven” according to state law. When “Congress includes particulаr language in one section of a statute but omits it in another section of the same Act, it is generally presumed that Congress acts intentionally and purposely in the disparate inclusion or exclusion.” Russello v. United States, 464 U.S. 16, 23, 104 S.Ct. 296, 78 L.Ed.2d 17 (1983) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). The fact that section 103(a) grants the VA authority to set evidentiary standards—while section 103(c) does not—buttresses the conclusion that state law evidentiary standards must be applied in assessing the validity of a marriage under section 103(c).7 Had Congress intended to provide the VA with authority to set the evidentiary standards for establishing a valid marriage under section 103(c), it could have done so explicitly. See Boyer v. West, 210 F.3d 1351, 1356 (Fed.Cir. 2000) (“If Congress had similarly intended to permit consideration of partial non-service-connected loss of function with respect to hearing, it surely would have done so with an explicit provision akin to [those contained in] other subsections” of the statute.)
F. THE VA‘S DUTY TO ASSIST CLAIMANTS
Pursuant to
III. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the judgments of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims are affirmed.
No costs.
AFFIRMED.
Haldane Robert Mayer
UNITED STATES CIRCUIT JUDGE
Notes
Section 103(c) provides:
In determining whether or not a person is or was the spouse of a veteran, their marriage shall be proven as valid for the purposes of all laws administered by the Secretary 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.
For example, a claimant seeking survivor benefits under the Social Security Act,
Our conclusion that state law evidentiary standards apply to questions related to the validity of a marriage is bolstered by cases construing the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA“), which contains language that is substantively identical to the phrase “according to the law of the place” contained in section 103(c). The FTCA provides:
[T]he district courts, together with the United States District Court for the District of the Canal Zone and the District Court of the Virgin Islands, shall have exclusive jurisdiction of civil actions on claims against the United States, for money damages, accruing on and after January 1, 1945, for injury or loss of рroperty, or personal injury or death caused by the negligent or wrongful act or omission of any employee of the Government while acting within the scope of his office or employment, under circumstances where the United States, if a private person, would be liable to the claimant in accordance with the law of the place where the act or omission occurred.
In determining whether a violation of the FTCA has occurred, courts have applied not only the substantive elements of state law, but also state law evidentiary burdens. See Cleveland v. United States, 457 F.3d 397, 403 (5th Cir. 2006) (applying Louisiana‘s preponderance of the evidence standard to a FTCA claim); Littlejohn v. United States, 321 F.3d 915, 924 (9th Cir. 2003) (explaining that Nevada‘s preponderance of the evidence standard applies to a medical malpractice claim brought under the FTCA); Mitchell v. United States, 141 F.3d 8, 13 (1st Cir. 1998) (applying Massachusetts’ preponderance of the evidence standard to a FTCA claim); Ward v. United States, 838 F.2d 182, 185 (6th Cir. 1988) (applying Tennessee‘s preponderance of the evidence standard to a FTCA claim).
Section 5107(b) provides:
The Secretary shall consider all information and lay and medical evidence of record in a case before the Secretary with respect to benefits under laws administered by the Secretary. When there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding any issue material to the determination of a matter, the Secretary shall give the benefit of the doubt to the claimant.
Section 103(a) in relevant part provides:
Whenever, in the consideration of any claim filed by a person as the widow or widower of a veteran for gratuitous death benefits under laws administered by the Secretary, it is established by evidence satisfactory to the Secretary that such person, without knowledge of any legal impediment, entered into a marriage with such veteran which, but fоr a legal impediment, would have been valid, and thereafter cohabited with the veteran for one year or more immediately before the veteran‘s death, or for any period of time if a child was born of the purported marriage or was born to them before such marriage, the purported marriage shall be deemed to be a valid marriage, but only if no claim has been filed by a legal widow or widower of such veteran who is found to be entitled to such benefits.
Mrs. Burden argues that 38 C.F.R. § 3.205 supports her contention that federal law should govern evidentiary questions related to the validity of a marriage. We disagree. Section 3.205(a) specifies that certain types of evidence, such as a public marriage record or an affidavit of the clergyman who officiated at a wedding ceremony, may be submitted to establish a marriage for VA benefits purposes. Section 3.205(b) provides, however, that the evidence listed in section 3.205(a) will suffice to establish a valid marriage only “[i]n the absence of conflicting information.” Where, as here, the VA is confronted with conflicting information regarding whether the parties entered into a valid common law marriage, the types of evidence described in section 3.205(a) will nоt necessarily suffice to establish the validity of that marriage.
In relevant part, section 5103(a) provides:
The Secretary shall provide to the claimant and the claimant‘s representative, if any, by the most effective means available, including electronic communication or notification in writing, notice of any information, and any medical or lay evidence, not previously provided to the Secretary that is necessary to substantiate the claim. As part of that notice, the Secretary shall indicate which portion of that information and evidence, if any, is to be provided by the claimant and which portion, if any, the Secretary, in accordance with section 5103A of this title and any other applicable provisions of law, will attempt to obtain on behalf of the claimant.