R married B in 1912 in Ohio. Many years later, in 1941, L underwent a marriage ceremony to R in good faith, not knowing about R’s prior marriage to B. This marriage was invalid because of R’s prior undissolved marriage to B.

In 1958 B applied for wife’s social security insurance benefits based on R’s earnings record. However, B was the one who was awarded wife’s benefits since she was still married to R.

To be entitled to wife’s social security benefits, a claimant must show that, under the law of the state in which the worker is domiciled at the time of the application: 1) she is validly married to the worker, or 2) that she has the same status as a spouse for purposes of sharing in the worker’s intestate estate. The marriage must have lasted at least a year at the time of the application. Neither of these tests was met in L’s case, since her marriage to R was invalid because of his undissolved marriage to B.

However, a claimant can be deemed a spouse for social security purposes if they underwent a marriage ceremony in good faith not knowing of a legal impediment such as the continued existence of a prior marriage of one of the parties.

L met the test for a deemed spouse so that, when R obtained a final divorce from B, she immediately became entitled to wife’s social security benefits and did not need to wait a year to begin receiving her benefits.

See Social Security Ruling (SSR) 67-58.

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.