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6.1. What's a Legal Presumption?

A presumption is a rule of law which permits a court to assume a fact is true without any evidence until there is a certain weight of evidence which rebuts (disproves or outweighs) the presumption.  Each presumption is based upon a particular set of apparent facts coupled with established laws, logic, or reasoning.  A presumption is "rebuttable" when a person can present facts to persuade a judge that the presumption is not true in his or her particular case.  The VA system includes a number of presumptions some favorable and some unfavorable to claimants, as described below.