Does the veteran's cause of death have to be service connected?

Details

• Principal cause of death: a service-connected condition singly or jointly with another condition was the immediate or underlying cause.
• Contributory cause of death: a service-connected condition contributed substantially or materially to death, combined with another condition, or aided or lent assistance to the production of death, under 38 CFR § 3.312(c).
• A condition does not need to be the only cause of death — it needs to have played a material role.
• Debility, general aging, or a condition unrelated to service generally will not, by itself, support a finding of contributory cause.