Opinion ID: 4533552
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: We first briefly address the government’s claim that we lack jurisdiction over this appeal. Our jurisdiction over the decisions of the Veterans Court is limited by statute. Bond v. Shinseki, 659 F.3d 1362, 1366 (Fed. Cir. 2011). Under 38 U.S.C. § 7292(d)(2), we “may not review (A) a challenge to a factual determination, or (B) a challenge to a law or regulation as applied to the facts of a particular case.” 38 U.S.C. § 7292(d)(2). The government claims that the Veterans Court declined to address the main legal Case: 19-1804 Document: 51 Page: 4 Filed: 05/12/2020 4 BROWN v. WILKIE contention Ms. Brown asserted in her appeal before that court and which she asserts again here—that the domestic abuse exception in 38 U.S.C. § 101(3) obviates the need to prove an existing marriage as of the date of death. Instead, the government asserts that the Veterans Court’s decision was predicated on factual conclusions which we may not review. We disagree. We see at least one legal issue on which we may ground jurisdiction: the assertion that the Veterans Court erred in its analysis of the VA’s duty to assist in obtaining necessary evidence pursuant to 38 U.S.C. § 5103A and the related implementing regulations. While it is true that we may not review the Veterans Court’s factual conclusion that the VA satisfied its duty to assist, we may, and have, reviewed the Veterans Court’s characterization of the nature of that duty. See, e.g., Jones v. Wilkie, 918 F.3d 322 (Fed. Cir. 2019). We, thus, proceed to consider this appeal.