B and W were a couple who lived in Hawaii, where they fell in love and got married by Japanese custom on November 2, 1915. They were both of Japanese descent.

Their traditional Japanese wedding occurred at the bride’s home, where the parties and their relatives gathered to make speeches, drink sake together, and wish the couple well in their new life together. The bride and groom also drank sake from the same cup.

B and W believed in good faith that this was a valid marriage ceremony and that they did not need to obtain a marriage license from the state. In this belief they were mistaken.

They lived together in marital bliss in Hawaii until B passed away on September 16, 1938. W applied for widow’s social security benefits based on B’s earnings record.

W could only be considered B’s widow for social security purposes if she entered into a valid marriage with B, or if she qualified to inherit B’s personal property under state intestacy laws (which determine a deceased person’s heirs when he or she dies without a will). The law that applies in making this determination is the law of the state in which the deceased worker was domiciled at the time of his or her death. In this case, it was the law of Hawaii that applied to determine if W was B’s widow.

Hawaii law would not recognize W’s marriage to B as valid, nor would it allow her to inherit from him as his widow.

But another provision of social security law provided that W could still be considered B’s widow if the following conditions were met: W in good faith went through a marriage ceremony with the worker (B), 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 (B); 3) she was living in the same household with the worker (B) 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 in good faith entered into a Japanese custom marriage to B not knowing there was a legal impediment that prevented the marriage from being valid (i.e., the need for a license). There was no other person who qualified as B’s legal widow at the time W filed her application. Therefore, W was entitled to widow’s social security insurance benefits based on B’s earnings record.

See Social Security Ruling (SSR) 63-49.

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.