SSR 67-8: SECTION 202(e) and 216(c). -- WIDOW'S INSURANCE BENEFITS -- DEFINITION OF WIDOW -- ENTITLEMENT TO WIDOW'S INSURANCE ANNUITY UNDER RAILROAD RETIREMENT ACT IN MONTH BEFORE REMARRIAGE
SSR 67-8
- Where a woman's entitlement to a widow's insurance annuity under the Railroad Retirement Act terminated in November 1963 when she remarried, and where her second husband died less than one year later, in August 1964, and he was fully insured only under the Social Security Act, held, the woman is the "widow" of her second husband in section 216(c) of the Social Security Act as amended in 1965, and based upon her application filed in August 1965 she is entitled to widow's insurance benefits on his earnings record, beginning with September 1965. For months before September 1965, she is not entitled to such benefits because she did not have the status of "widow" under the Act as then in effect.
The claimant, W, became entitled to a widow's insurance annuity under section 5 of the Railroad Retirement Act effective with the month of her first husband's death. The husband had no insured status under the Social Security Act. This annuity was terminated upon W's marriage to R, her second husband, on November 5, 1973. R died, fully insured for social security purposes, on August 24, 1964, less than 10 months after his marriage to W. W, initially denied social security benefits as R's widow, filed a new application in August 1965 under the 1965 amendments to the Social Security Act.
For entitlement to widow's insurance benefits on a deceased worker's earnings record, section 202(e) of the Social Security Act provides that a woman must, in addition to other requirements all of which W met, be that worker's "widow" as defined in section 216(c).
Section 216(c) of the Act as in effect at the time of R's death provided that a worker's surviving wife was his "widow" for purposes of entitlement to benefits if she met any one of several conditions, those pertinent to this case being: (1) she was married to him for not less than one year immediately prior to the day on which he died; or (2) in the month before the month in which she married him, she was entitled to widow's or parent's insurance benefits under the Social Security Act or could have been entitled to such a benefit if she had then been age 62 and had filed application, or she was entitled to or upon application would have been entitled to child's insurance benefits under the Act as a disabled child age 18 or older.
Since W was married to R for less than 10 months before the day of his death, she could not meet the one-year duration-of-marriage requirement in section 216(c). Thus, she could satisfy the definition of "widow" only if she had been entitled or potentially entitled to widow's, parent's, or child's insurance benefits under the Social Security Act in October 1963, the month before the month of her marriage to R. In that month, W was entitled to a widow's insurance annuity under the Railroad Retirement Act; and while the Railroad Retirement Act and the Social Security Act are similar in certain respects, they are different statutes, paying benefits from different funds under different conditions. At the time of his death, W's first husband was insured under the Railroad Retirement Act but he had no insured status under the Social Security Act; therefore, W could neither be entitled nor potentially entitled to social security benefits on his earnings record. Consequently, under the Social Security Act as in effect prior to the Social Security Amendments of 1965, W could not satisfy the definition of "widow" in section 216(c) of the Act with respect to her second husband, R, and thus she was not entitled to widow's insurance benefits on his earnings record.
The Social Security Amendments of 1965 (P.L. 89-97, enacted July 30, 1965) amended section 216(c) of the Act to include within the definition of "widow" a surviving wife who was entitled or potentially entitled to a widow's, parent's, or (at age 18 or older) child's insurance annuity under the Railroad Retirement Act, in the month before the month of her marriage. The Congress recognized that while the Railroad Retirement Act makes an exception to the one-year duration-of-marriage requirement for payment of widow's and widower's annuities in the case of a spouse who had, before marriage, actual or potential entitlement to benefits as a widow, widower, parent, or disabled child under the Social Security Act, there was no similar exception made under the Social Security Act for a spouse, such as W, who in the month preceding marriage had actual or potential entitlement to an insurance annuity under the Railroad Retirement Act. The purpose of the amendment was to prevent an individual such as W, who was protected under the railroad retirement program, from being left without social insurance protection because of marriage to a worker insured under the social security program. (See Senate Report No. 404, Part I, 89th Cong., 1st Sess., pp. 110-111 (1965).)
As amended by section 334(b) of P.L. 89-97, section 216(c) of the Act now provides in pertinent part as follows:
- The term "widow" * * * means the surviving wife of an individual, but only if * * * (6) in the month prior to the month of her marriage to him * * * (C) she was entitled to, or upon application therefor and attainment of the required age (if any) would have been entitled to, a widow's, child's (after attainment of age 18), or parent's insurance annuity under section 5 of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1937, as amended.
Section 334(g) of P.L. 89-97 provides that this amendment is applicable with respect to monthly benefits beginning with September 1965, but only on the basis of applications filed in or after July 1965.
Accordingly, having been entitled to a widow's insurance annuity under the Railroad Retirement Act in the month before the month in which she married R, it is held that W is R's "widow" as defined in section 216(c) of the Social Security Act, and having met all other requirements, she is entitled to widow's insurance benefits on R's earnings record beginning with September 1965.