Motley v. Colvin

63 F. Supp. 3d 362, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 168858, 2014 WL 6808292
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedDecember 4, 2014
DocketNo. 13 Cv. 7856(JGK)
StatusPublished

This text of 63 F. Supp. 3d 362 (Motley v. Colvin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Motley v. Colvin, 63 F. Supp. 3d 362, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 168858, 2014 WL 6808292 (S.D.N.Y. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

JOHN G. KOELTL, District Judge:

The pro se plaintiff, Bernadette Motley, seeks review of the final decision of the defendant, the Acting Commissioner of Social Security (the “Commissioner”), that the plaintiff does not qualify for Disabled Adult Child (“DAC”) benefits because she has not established that the insured, John H. Torrence, was her father. Tr. 12-14.1 The defendant moves for judgment on the pleadings pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(c).

I.

On September 1, 2011, the plaintiff submitted an application for DAC benefits, basing her claim on her relationship to Torrence, who she said was her father. Tr. 12-13. At the time of this application, the plaintiff was receiving supplemental security income (SSI) benefits, and had received benefits claimed under Martin Motley (“Motley”), who is listed on the plaintiffs birth certificate as her father. Tr. 16. Plaintiff stated in her application that she no longer wanted to receive benefits under Motley, and instead she wanted to receive benefits under Torrence. Tr. 17-18, 24-25.

After the plaintiffs claim was denied on August 26, 2012, because she failed to provide sufficient proof of her relationship to Torrence, the plaintiff requested a hearing to review the decision. Tr. 28, 73. The Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) held a hearing on December 5, 2012, and denied the plaintiffs claims on December 28, 2012. The ALJ considered documents submitted by the plaintiff, including proof that she was a beneficiary of Torrence’s life insurance policy, Torrence’s death certificate listing the plaintiff as his daughter, and a letter' from Rev. Robert Jeffers, the pastor at the plaintiffs mother’s church, stating that Torrence was considered the plaintiffs father. Tr. 13-15. The ALJ found that the plaintiff did not supply any genetic test or other evidence to identify a biological relationship with Torrence, nor did the plaintiff provide evidence that Tor-rence was decreed by a court to be her biological parent, or ordered by a court to contribute to her support, or that Torrence had acknowledged in writing that the plaintiff was his child. Tr. 14. The ALJ found that the plaintiff did not provide sufficient evidence to establish her eligibility for benefits as Torrence’s child under Title II of the Social Security Act. Tr. 15. After the Appeals Council declined review on September 23, 2013, the decision of the ALJ became the final decision of the Commissioner. Tr. 2.

II.

The ALJ correctly rejected the plaintiffs application because the plaintiff has not proved that she is Torrence’s child, as required by 42 U.S.C. § 402(d)(1) and defined by 42 U.S.C. § 416.

A.

A court may set aside a determination made by the Commissioner only if it is based on legal error or is not supported by substantial evidence in the record. See 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) (2012); Butts v. Barnhart, 388 F.3d 377, 384 (2d Cir.2004), as amend[365]*365ed on reh’g in part, 416 F.3d 101 (2d Cir.2005). See also Bushansky v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec., No. 13cv2574, 2014 WL 4746092, at *4 (S.D.N.Y.2014). In reviewing the decision of the Commissioner, “substantial evidence is more than a' mere scintilla. It means such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion.” Selian v. Astrue, 708 F.3d 409, 417 (2d Cir.2013) (quoting Richardson v. Perales, 402 U.S. 389, 401, 91 S.Ct. 1420, 28 L.Ed.2d 842 (1971)) (internal quotation marks and alterations omitted).

B.

To establish eligibility for DAC benefits, an applicant must first show that she is a “child (as defined in section 416(e) of this title) of an individual entitled to old-age or disability insurance benefits, or of an individual who dies a fully or currently insured individual .... ” 42 U.S.C. § 402(d)(l)(2011).

The statute sets forth several ways to determine whether an applicant is a “child” within the definition of 42 U:S.C. § 416(e). First, the applicant would be considered a child if she is able to inherit the personal property of the insured individual under the law of the state in which the parent was domiciled, in this case the State of New York. 42 U.S.C. § 416(h)(2)(A); Tr. 12-15. Second, if the applicant does not meet the state intestacy requirement the Act sets forth several alternative tests.

New York State intestacy laws allow for a non-marital child to inherit from a deceased father if (1) a court has made an order of filiation, (2) the father has appropriately executed an acknowledgement of paternity, (3) paternity has been established by “clear and convincing evidence” which may include “evidence that the father openly and notoriously acknowledged the child as his own,” or evidence derived from a genetic marker test. Social Security Program Operations Manual System GN 00306.575(B); N.Y. Est. Powers. & Trusts Law § 4-1.2 (McKinney 2010).

Furthermore, under New York State law, in the case of a child born to married parents, there is a presumption of legitimacy, namely that the child’s father is her mother’s husband. See Fung v. Fung, 238 A.D.2d 375, 655 N.Y.S.2d 657, 657 (1997) (“[T]his presumption has been described as one of the strongest and most persuasive known to the law.”) (citation omitted). In order for a child born to married parents to establish her status as a natural child of another father, she must present “clear and convincing proof ... excluding the husband as the father or tending to disprove legitimacy” to rebut this presumption. See L.M. v. J.S., 6 Misc.3d 151, 787 N.Y.S.2d 833, 836 (N.Y.Fam.Ct.2004).

The plaintiff failed to prove that she would be considered Torrence’s child under New York intestacy law. The plaintiff produced evidence that the James J. Peters Veterans Administration Medical Center had a record that she was the next of kin for Torrence, that she had access to his medical records, that she attended his funeral and was listed as his daughter on his death certificate, and that she was a beneficiary of Torrence’s life insurance policy. Tr. 68, 59, 45, 51, 43. Rev. Robert Jeffers, the pastor at the plaintiffs mother’s church, explained that the plaintiffs mother had a number of children including the plaintiff, and that the plaintiffs mother lived with Torrence, who “was considered the father” of the plaintiff. Tr. 100. A number of the documents submitted by the plaintiff were created many years after Torrence’s death. See, e.g. Tr. 68, 45, 100, 43. None of these documents includes a [366]

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Related

Richardson v. Perales
402 U.S. 389 (Supreme Court, 1971)
Selian v. Astrue
708 F.3d 409 (Second Circuit, 2013)
Howell Ex Rel. Howell v. Barnhart
265 F. Supp. 2d 268 (S.D. New York, 2003)
Thomas v. Astrue
674 F. Supp. 2d 507 (S.D. New York, 2009)
Fung v. Fung
238 A.D.2d 375 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1997)
L.M. v. J.S.
6 Misc. 3d 151 (NYC Family Court, 2004)

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Bluebook (online)
63 F. Supp. 3d 362, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 168858, 2014 WL 6808292, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/motley-v-colvin-nysd-2014.