H and W were married and lived in Arkansas. In 1947 they separated and their two youngest children lived with W. Despite never getting a divorce from H, W subsequently entered into a ceremonial marriage to another man in 1957.

H died domiciled in Arkansas in February 1961. W filed an application for children’s and mother’s social security benefits based on H’s earnings record.

The question was whether, given W’s subsequent marriage, she was H’s widow. To determine this, the agency needed to apply Arkansas law.

There were two ways to determine if W was H’s widow: 1) she was validly married to H at the time of his death, or 2) she was able to inherit H’s personal property as his widow under Arkansas’ law of intestate succession.

In effect, W needed to prove that her subsequent marriage was bigamous and, therefore, null and void. W was able to prove every county in which she and H had separately resided since the time of their separation, and that no divorce had ever been finalized.

Because of this, W’s subsequent marriage was bigamous, and she was entitled to receive mother’s and children’s benefits on H’s earnings record.

See Social Security Ruling (SSR) 62-36.

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.