A married couple lived and worked in New York for many years. The man, apparently eager to obtain a divorce on the sly, went to Florida for the sole purpose of getting a divorce. However, he could not do so because of the residency requirement. Hearing that Nevada was an easy state in which to obtain a divorce, he traveled there, and stayed just long enough to be able to claim he had established residency in the state. He then obtained a divorce by publishing notice in a newspaper of general circulation, but without giving his wife actual notice of the divorce. Immediately after the divorce was signed he returned to New York, where he stayed until he died.

His wife filed for social security widow’s benefits on his earnings record. The agency held that she was entitled to these benefits because the Nevada divorce was null and void. Her husband had never truly intended to remain in Nevada indefinitely; in fact, he had only gone there for the sole purpose of getting a divorce. Therefore, he had not established genuine residency in Nevada. The facts and circumstances showed that he had stayed in the state just long enough to meet the time requirement for residency; however, he clearly did not meet the intent requirement. Once the divorce was signed, he had immediately returned to his prior life in New York.

I suspect the husband did this in order to avoid a spousal support obligation, and/or to avoid paying a fair property settlement to his wife.

Held: because the divorce was null and void, the wife was still married to the wage earner at the time of his death and, therefore, was entitled to widow’s benefits.

See Social Security Ruling (SSR) 61-8.

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.