A woman, B, entered into a ceremonial marriage to A in New York in December 1932, blissfully unaware that his “mail-order” Mexican divorce from his prior spouse in 1930 was considered a nullity under New York law.

A became entitled to old age social security insurance benefits. In March, 1962, B applied for spousal social security benefits based on A’s earnings record.

There were two basic alternative tests to determine if B was entitled to spousal social security benefits. The first test was whether or not she qualified as A’s spouse under state laws of intestate succession in the state where A was domiciled at the time of her application for benefits. As mentioned above she did not, because New York courts would consider her marriage to A to be null and void.

However, another section of the Social Security Act allowed her to be deemed A’s spouse if she underwent a marriage ceremony in good faith and no other person was receiving spousal social security benefits under this section.

Held: B was deemed A’s spouse and therefore qualified for spouse’s social security benefits.

See Social Security Ruling (SSR) 62-68.

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.