You may consider an individual LISH even when one of the individuals of the couple is temporarily absent from the residence. Consider an absence temporary if:

1. a. 

   It was due to service in the U.S. Armed Forces;

2. b. 

   It was for 6 months or less, neither NH or spouse was outside the U.S. during the time considered, and the absence was due to:

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     business,

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     employment,

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     confinement in a hospital, nursing home, other medical institution, or

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     penal institution.

3. c. 

   It was for 6 months or more due to the confinement of either spouse in a hospital, nursing home, or other medical institution and the couple would have otherwise resided together.

4. d. 

   There were other circumstances, and evidence indicates that the NH and the surviving spouse expected to live together in the near future.

1. a. 

   A couple must have shared a temporary or permanent residence for at least part of a day following the beginning of the marital relationship (following the marriage ceremony). If the couple never resided together after they became a married couple, they were not LISH.

   EXAMPLE: An unmarried couple, person A and person B, lived together until person A entered the hospital. While person A was still in the hospital, person A and person B were married. Person A died the next day in the hospital. Since person A and person B did not share a residence as a married couple for at least part of a day, they were not LISH.

2. b. 

   If the married couple lived at the same address, assume they were living together unless there is evidence to the contrary. Consider a married couple LISH if they were occupants of the same hospital, nursing home, or other medical institution , even if they did not occupy the same quarters, provided there was a good reason for not occupying the same quarters, (perhaps it was against the rules and regulations of the institution). Occupancy of different rooms at the same hotel, or different apartments in the same apartment house does not qualify as LISH. Consider LISH even if one of the parties sharing a residence was away from home at the time of death if:

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     the absence was intended as temporary.

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     there was intent to continue living together in the same place. Intent to resume living together physically at some reasonably definite time in the near future.

   EXAMPLE: This condition generally applies for deaths that occurred in a hospital, while on a business trip, while in the military service, etc.

   IMPORTANT: LISH does not apply in situations where the parties do not intend to live together in the same place, even when the parties separated, and they intended this separation to be temporary.

Generally, you cannot establish LISH where the married couple resided in different countries. However, LISH is possible:

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  if the parties were living together and one of them was away temporarily, on a visit, or,

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  where one spouse preceded the other in returning to the foreign country with the expectation that the other would follow soon. If one of the parties was in a foreign country due to military service, in this section, see RS 00210.035B.3.

LISH does not apply if the parties were apart because of incompatibility, ill treatment, or other domestic difficulty, regardless of the history of prior separation or reconciliation of the parties. An exception to this rule exists when it is clear that the parties, from the beginning, intended to resume living together physically within a short time. For example, the NH often became violent during arguments, and their spouse left each time this happened, returning within a few days.

LISH is met when the separation is due to service in the U.S. Armed Forces unless there is evidence indicating the parties no longer intended to live together. Without such evidence, accept the claimant's statement that the parties were apart because of military service.

A couple may be separated due to the need for constant, though not specialized, medical care where no one household could (or was willing to) attend to the needs of both members of the married couple, so each lived in different locations (For example, the NH and spouse reside with different family members).

Confirm with the surviving spouse that the medical conditions were the sole reason for the separation and the surviving spouse demonstrated continued interest in the financial and personal welfare of the deceased.

Consider LISH met if confinement is 6 months or less and the circumstances (including the terms of the confinement) do not raise a question as to whether the parties intended to live together after confinement. LISH would not be met if confinement was for life or for a period exceeding the life expectancy of either spouse, or under a sentence of death.