Source: https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/1505005048
Timestamp: 2018-10-18 05:07:02
Document Index: 690642529

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 402', '§ 404', '§ 404', '§ 416', '§ 404', '§ 404']

SSA - POMS: PR 05005.048 - Texas - 04/07/2015
A claimant is entitled to spousal benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act (Act) if, among other things, he is the husband of an insured individual who is entitled to old-age or disability benefits.[4] See 42 U.S.C. §§ 402(c), 416(a)(1), (f); 20 C.F.R. § 404.330. The claimant bears the burden of proving that he is in a valid marital relationship with the insured and is therefore the insured’s spouse. See 20 C.F.R §§ 404.345, 404.704, 404.723, 404.725. In determining the claimant’s relationship as the insured’s spouse, the agency looks to the law of the state where the insured had a permanent home at the time the claimant applied for benefits. See 42 U.S.C. § 416(h)(1)(A)(i); 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.344, 404.345; Program Operations Manual System (POMS) RS 00202.001(A); GN 00305.005(B).[5] Permanent home means the individual insured’s true and fixed home or legal domicile. 20 C.F.R. § 404.303. Because the NH was domiciled in Texas at the time R~ filed both applications, we look to Texas law to determine whether the NH and R~ were validly married.
a court, subject to constitutional restrictions, will follow a statutory directive of its own state on choice of law;
when there is no such directive, the factors relevant to the choice of the applicable rule of law include:
the relevant policies of the forum (the place of the trial),
the relevant policies of other interested states and the relevant interests of those states in the determination of the particular issue,
The Seth case offers helpful guidance in examining how a Texas court would analyze the present facts under the significant relationship test. Seth, 694 S.W.2d 459. The Seth case addressed the question of whether Islamic or Texas law should apply to divorce proceedings in Texas, where prior marriage and divorce ceremonies all occurred under Islamic law in India and Kuwait.[9] The Seth court determined that the Restatement factors of the relevant policies of the forum (Texas) and the protection of the parties’ justified expectations, explained in detail below, required application of Texas law to resolve the issues raised by the marriage and divorce ceremonies that occurred in Kuwait and India. Id. at 462-464. As explained below, we find that a majority of the Restatement factors support applying Texas law in deciding the validity of the NH’s and R~’s divorce, re-marriage, and subsequent annulment.
D. Application of Texas Law
Because the evidence we received shows that Illinois had subject matter and in rem jurisdiction, as well as the power to dissolve the marriage, we conclude that Texas would likely give full faith and credit to the 1981 Illinois Divorce Decree. Accordingly, a Texas court would find that the 1973 Philippine marriage between the NH and R~ terminated in February 1981, per a valid divorce.[10]
http://policy.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/1505005048
PR 05005.048 - Texas - 04/07/2015