An insured individual went out fishing on Lake Erie in a motorized rowboat on May 15, 1957, and was never heard from again.

His wife applied for mother’s social security benefits for herself and child’s benefits for her son in June, 1957.

Four insurance companies and the police department conducted an extensive investigation.

The man had told his wife that morning that he needed to take care of some things at the office and then he was going fishing, after which he would return home.

The owner of a boathouse near the lake told investigators the man had approached him asking to rent a fishing boat. He had refused, telling him the weather was too stormy and conditions were unsafe. When the man became insistent, he directed him to another boathouse.

The owner of the other boathouse did rent the man a small rowboat with an outboard motor. However, he advised the man it was not wise to go out into the stormy weather and specifically told him not to go past the river into the lake.

The man went out onto the lake anyway, disregarding these pointed warnings. The next day the boat he rented was found five miles away from the boathouse. The bottom of the boat was scraped, the gas tank was empty, the propeller on the outboard motor was bent, and the man’s fishing gear was scattered about inside the boat. The name of the boat was not the Edmund Fitzgerald. That was a much larger ship that capsized in Lake Superior on November 10th, 1975. More details about that tragedy can be gleaned from the song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”, by Gordon Lightfoot. But I digress.

The U.S. Coast Guard conducted an exhaustive search, but no trace of the man was ever found.

The insurance companies performed an extensive investigation of the man’s character and background and found that he was a devoted husband and father, was in good health, and was not under any financial distress. The companies paid out a total of $32,000 in insurance proceeds.

Under these circumstances, the Social Security Administration determined it was reasonable to assume the man had perished on the lake. He had no reason or inclination to abandon his family, and it was likely the stormy conditions on the lake had buffeted his boat and ejected him into the water, where he had drowned. He likely did not survive beyond the day he went missing. His date of death was determined to be May 15th, 1957, the same date he went missing.

Held: survivor’s benefits granted.

See Social Security Ruling 60-21.

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.