R died in 1949, fully insured for social security disability purposes. At the time of his death, R was married to W. They had a two year old child, C. In 1953, W married S.

In March 1955 W applied for and began receiving child’s social security benefits for C based on her deceased husband’s earnings record. She was not entitled to mother’s insurance benefits at the time because of her remarriage.

In May 1963, W obtained a decree of annulment of her marriage to S, based on fraud. In the same month, W married V, who was receiving social security retirement benefits.

In August 1963 W applied for mother’s insurance benefits. Because of her annulment from S, it was as if she had legally never been married to S. Because the marriage was declared void ab initio, under state law the court had no jurisdiction to award alimony. Because she had no other source of support, W qualified for mother’s social security benefits after her annulment was entered. However, the question remained whether or not she could qualify for benefits given her subsequent marriage to V.

W’s marriage to V was not disqualifying because V was a beneficiary of old age social security insurance benefits. W was thus entitled to mother’s benefits based on her deceased husband R’s earnings record.

See Social Security Ruling (SSR) 65-39

This material should not be construed as legal advice for any particular fact situation, but is intended for general informational purposes only. For advice specific to any individual situation, an experienced attorney should be contacted.