D and W were first cousins and both resided in Illinois. They went to Indiana to get married and after going through the marriage ceremony, returned to Illinois, where they resided until D passed away in May 1962. They both believed their marriage was valid, though they never resided in the state of Indiana.

W filed for widow’s social security benefits. The question was whether or no she was considered D’s spouse for social security purposes.

This question turned on the law of the state in which D was domiciled at the time of his death; namely, Illinois. There was a two pronged test for making this determination: 1) Illinois would find that D and W were validly married at the time of D’s death; or 2) W qualified to inherit D’s personal property as his widow under Illinois’s laws of intestate succession.

If both of these tests fail, W could still be considered D’s wife if she in good faith entered into a ceremonial marriage that was invalid because of a legal impediment that she did not know about and the legal impediment: i) arose out of the continued existence of a prior marriage of either herself or D, ii) arose out of the dissolution of a prior marriage, or iii) was a result of a defect in the procedure of her ceremonial marriage to D. Under this catch all provision, W also must have resided with D at the time of his death and there must not have been any other person entitled to receive widow’s, mother’s, or wife’s insurance benefits on D’s earnings record.

Under Illinois law, which did not allow first cousins to marry, W’s marriage to D was null and void, and she did not qualify to inherit from D as his widow under Illinois laws of intestacy.

With respect to the catch all provision, W did not qualify because, although she had entered the marriage to D in good faith, had resided with D at the time of his death, and there was no other person who qualified for wife’s, widow’s or mother’s insurance benefits on D’s record, the legal impediment in her marriage to D was not a procedural defect, but rather was a substantive defect.

Held: W did not qualify for widow’s benefits.

See Social Security Ruling (SSR) 63-20.

Presumably, if D and W had resided in Indiana at the time of D’s death, W would likely have qualified for widow’s benefits.

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