R and W lived on a Navajo tribal reservation in Arizona, where they fell in love. W told her parents she wanted to marry R. They took her to the hogan (a traditional Navajo dwelling made of logs and earth) of R’s parents, where according to tribal custom, the two sets of parents gave their permission and blessings to the couple’s marriage and wished them good fortune and future prosperity in their new life together.
R and W did not obtain a marriage license as required by tribal law, but each believed they had entered into a valid marriage through the traditional tribal ceremony.
R passed away in Arizona on February 3rd 1959.
On January 26th, 1961 W applied for mother’s social security insurance benefits based on R’s earnings record.
The question was whether or not W could be considered R’s widow for social security purposes.
There were two alternative tests for determining if W was R’s widow, both of which depended upon the law of the state in which R was domiciled at the time of his death (I.e., Arizona): 1) whether R and W were validly married at the time of R’s death, or 2) whether W qualified to inherit R’s personal property as his widow under state laws of intestate succession (intestacy is where a person dies without a will).
It was clear that W did not qualify under either of these two tests because the couple’s failure to obtain a marriage license meant that Arizona would not have recognized their marriage as valid.
But there was also a kind of catch all equitable provision in the law providing for the allowance of widow’s benefits where neither of these two tests were met.
This provision stated that W could still be considered R’s widow for social security purposes if the following conditions were met: 1) she in good faith went through with a marriage ceremony with the worker (R), not knowing of a legal impediment which made the marriage invalid; 2) the legal impediment resulted i) from the continued existence of a prior marriage of either party or arose out of the dissolution of the prior marriage, or ii) from a defect in the procedure followed in connection with her marriage to the worker (R); 3) she was living in the same household with the worker (R) when he died; and 4) at the time of her application there was no other person who met the requirements to receive widow’s benefits based on the worker’s earnings record.
W had entered the ceremonial marriage in good faith, not knowing that a license was necessary to make the marriage valid (she mistakenly believed the license was only needed in order to show the Bureau of Indian Affairs that she was married, but that the tribal law did not require it). Thus she had entered in good faith into a ceremonial marriage with a legal defect in its procedure.
She was living in the same household with R when he passed on and there was no other person who could have qualified as R’s widow at the time she filed her application for benefits.
Held: R was entitled to mother’s social security insurance benefits based on R’s earnings record.
See Social Security Ruling (SSR) 63-48.
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.
