SSR 67-33: SECTION 202(d). -- CHILD'S INSURANCE BENEFITS -- REENTITLEMENT BETWEEN AGES 18-22 FOLLOWING MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE
SSR 67-33
- Where a child was entitled on his father's earnings record to child's insurance benefits until termination of benefits upon attainment of age 18; was subsequently married and divorced; and thereafter filed application for reentitlement as a full-time student between ages 18 and 22 under the provisions of the 1965 amendments to the Social Security Act, held, such child is precluded by section 202(d)(7) of the Act, as amended, from reentitlement on the same earnings record by reason of his marriage, but such marriage (terminated by divorce) is not a bar to his initial entitlement to child's insurance benefits on another earnings record (in this case, his mother's), other requirements being met.
C, who was born to R and his wife, W, on November 8, 1943, was entitled to child's insurance benefits on R's earnings record from February 1958 until November 1961, when he attained age 18 and his benefits were terminated in accordance with section 202(d)(1) of the Social Security Act as then in effect. C's mother, W, became entitled to old-age insurance benefits on her own earnings record, effective July 1961, and at such time she was both fully and currently insured. In February 1963 C married, this marriage ending in divorce in August 1963. On August 26, 1965, C filed application for reentitlement to child's insurance benefits as a "full-time student" under the Social Security Amendments of 1965 (P.L. 89-97, enacted July 30, 1965). C had been in full-time school attendance in all months of the year, beginning with January 1965, and he continued in full-time attendance through October 1965.
The question to be resolved is whether C may become reentitled to child's insurance benefits on R's earnings record on the basis of his August 1965 application despite his marriage and divorce in 1963.
Section 202(d)(1) of the Social Security Act as amended in 1965 provides, as pertinent here, that a child (as defined in section 216(e) of the Act) of an individual entitled to an old- age insurance benefit shall be entitled to a child's insurance benefit if such child has filed application and, at the time of such application: (1) is unmarried, and (2) either has not attained age 18 or is a full-time student and has not attained age 22, and (3) is dependent on such individual. Section 202(d)(1) also provides, as pertinent here, that the entitlement of a full-time student to child's insurance benefits ends with the month before the first month during no part of which he is a full-time student or the month before the month in which he reaches age 22, whichever occurs first. Section 306(d) of P.L. 89-97 provides that entitlement to child's insurance benefits on the basis of full-time school attendance can be effective no earlier than January 1965.
At the time C filed his application in August 1965, he met all the foregoing requirements for entitlement to benefits on the earnings record of his father, R. However, the 1965 amendments to the Act also provide that a child previously entitled to child's insurance benefits on the earnings record of an insured individual may not be reentitled on the same earnings record if he married subsequent to his initial entitlement to benefits. Section 202(d)(7) of the amended Act provides in pertinent part:
- A child whose entitlement to child's insurance benefits on the basis of the wages and self-employment income of an insured individual terminated with the month preceding the month in which such child attained the age of 18, or with a subsequent month, may again become entitled to such benefits (provided no event specified in paragraph (1)(D) has occurred) [i.e., death, marriage, or (with certain exceptions) adoption of the child] beginning with the first month thereafter in which he is a full-time student and has not attained the age of 22 if he has filed application for such reentitlement * * *.
Because C married in 1963, after he had been entitled to benefits on R's earnings record, section 202(d)(7) specifically precludes his reentitlement to child's insurance benefits on that earnings record, even though his marriage terminated in divorce and he was unmarried at the time he applied for reentitlement in August 1965.
Despite this denial of reentitlement on R's earnings record, the scope of C's application for benefits, as determined by the wording on its face, is a request for all insurance benefits payable to him under title II of the Social Security Act. This would include possible entitlement to child's insurance benefits on the earnings record of his mother, W, who was also entitled to old-age insurance benefits.
Referring again to the requirements for entitlement to child's insurance benefits as provided in section 202(d)(1) of the Act and as related to C's mother W, C is W's natural legitimate child and therefore her "child" as defined in section 216(e) of the Act; his application filed on August 26, 1965, is a valid application for benefits on the earnings record of either parent, R or W; and at the time he filed application, he was a full-time student and had not attained age 22. In addition, he was unmarried at the time he filed application, because his marriage had terminated 2 years earlier by divorce; and such marriage, while a bar to reentitlement on R's earnings record, is not a bar to initial entitlement on W's earnings record within the meaning of section 202(d)(7) of the Act. (See SSR 60-1, C.B. 1960-61, p. 1).
The remaining requirement in section 202(d)(1), that C be dependent on W at the time he filed application, is met under section 202(d)(5) of the Act, which provides that a child shall be deemed dependent on his natural or adopting mother at the time specified in section 202(d)(1) if the mother was a "currently insured individual"; W is a "currently insured individual" (as defined in section 214(b) of the Act) since she had 6 quarters of coverage during the 13-quarter period ending with the quarter in which she became entitled to old-age insurance benefits.
Accordingly, it is held, that C cannot become reentitled to child's insurance benefits on the earnings record of his father, R, but he is entitled to such benefits on the earnings record of his mother, W, beginning with January 1965 and ending with October 1965, the month before the month in which he attained age 22.
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