Turley v. Cohen

325 F. Supp. 1067, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13996
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. West Virginia
DecidedMarch 29, 1971
DocketCiv. A. No. 68-48 CH
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 325 F. Supp. 1067 (Turley v. Cohen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. West Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Turley v. Cohen, 325 F. Supp. 1067, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13996 (S.D.W. Va. 1971).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

KNAPP, District Judge.

This action is brought under section 205(g) of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) for Judicial Review of a final decision of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, denying the claim of the plaintiff, Pauline Turley, on behalf of Shelva A. Adkins, a minor, for child’s benefits under section 202(d) of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 402(d). The plaintiff bases this claim on the social security earnings record of Woodrow Adkins, alleged to be the child’s natural father.

The plaintiff filed her application on July 18, 1966. The Secretary denied this application initially and on reconsideration for the reason that the child lacked status as the wage earner’s child within the meaning of the Social Security Act. The plaintiff requested that her claim be considered by a Hearing Examiner of the Social Security Administration, Bureau of Hearings and Appeals. A hearing was conducted at which the plaintiff, represented by counsel, was present and participated. The Hearing Examiner on October 23, 1967, ruled that for the reason given earlier by the Administration, the child claimant did not qualify for benefits as the child of Woodrow Adkins. That decision became the “final decision” of the Secretary which is before this court for review pursuant to section 205(g) of the Act, 42 U.S.C. § 405(g).

[1069]*1069The issue for determination by the court is whether the Secretary’s decision that the child claimant, Shelva Adkins, is not entitled to benefits as the wage earner’s child because she fails to meet the status requirements of the Social Security Act, is supported by substantial evidence in the record. In Laws v. Celebrezze, 368 F.2d 640 (4 Cir. 1966), substantial evidence was defined as “ * * * evidence which a reasoning mind would accept as sufficient to support a particular conclusion. It consists of more than a scintilla of evidence, but may be somewhat less than a preponderance.”

The wage earner, Woodrow Adkins, applied to the Secretary for disability insurance benefits on February 24, 1966. The administration determined he met the requirements of the Act for such benefits beginning on February 21, 1966, and awarded him disability benefits effective with the month of September, 1966.

The child claimant in this case, Shelva Annette Adkins, was born out of wedlock to the plaintiff, Pauline Turley, on March 1, 1966, the month following the month when the wage earner’s period of disability began. It appears that Shelva’s father is the wage earner, Woodrow Adkins. The wage earner and the plaintiff met in 1963 or in January 1964 at Billings’ Tavern and began dating and having sexual relations, although they have never lived together and their children have never lived with him. The wage earner is married and has four grown children. The plaintiff has been twice married previously.

In March, 1964, the plaintiff became pregnant with William Edward Adkins, who was born in December 1964. This child also is alleged to be the child of the wage earner. In June 1965, before the wage earner’s period of disability began, he acknowledged William in writing as his child and the Social Security Administration has awarded William benefits as the wage earner’s child because the wage earner’s written acknowledgment brings William within the qualifying provision of Section 216(h) (2), (3) (B) (i) of the Act. Shelva, the claimant in this case, was not born, however, until the month after the wage earner’s period of disability began, and the wage earner did not acknowledge her in writing until after that time.

The child claimant’s eligibility for benefits is governed by 202(d) of the Act, 42 U.S.C. § 402(d), which provides in pertinent part:

“(d) (1) Every child (as defined in section 216(e)) of an individual entitled to old-age or disability benefits, * * * if such child—
“(A) has filed application for child’s insurance benefits,
X- * * -X- * *
shall be entitled to a child’s insurance benefit for each month, beginning with the first month * * * in which such child becomes so entitled *

Section 216(e) of the Act, 42 U.S.C. § 416(e), provides that the term “child” means the child or legally adopted child of an individual.

The criteria for determination of child’s status are set forth in sections 216(h) (2) and 216(h) (3) of the Act, 42 U.S.C. § 416(h) (2) and § 416(h) (3). Section 216(h) (2) (A) provides that in determining whether an applicant is the child of an insured individual the Secretary shall apply the law as would be applied in determining the devolution of intestate personal property by the courts of the insured individual’s domicile. The plaintiff has conceded that Shelva Adkins, the child claimant in this case, does not satisfy 216(h) (2) (A) of the Act. For it is clear that in West Virginia, the wage earner’s domicile, illegitimate children have no inheritance rights in their father’s estate. West Virginia Code, Ch. 42, Art. 1, § 5; Pace v. Celebrezze, 243 F.Supp. 317 (D.C.1965).

An alternative, however, is provided in section 216(h) (3) of the Act, 42 U.S. C. § 416(h) (3), which reads in pertinent part:

“(3) An applicant who is the son or daughter of a fully or currently insur[1070]*1070ed individual, but who is not (and is not deemed to be) the child of such insured individual under paragraph (2) of this subsection, shall nevertheless be deemed to be the child of such insured individual if:
* * * * * *
“(B) in the case of an insured individual entitled to disability old-age insurance benefits—
“(i) such insured individual—
“(I) has acknowledged in writing that the applicant is his son or daughter,
“(II) has been decreed by a court to be the father of the applicant, or
“(III) has been ordered by a court to contribute to the support of the applicant because the applicant is his son or daughter, and such acknowledgment, court decree, or court order was made before such insured individual’s most recent period of disability began; or
“(ii) such insured individual is shown by evidence satisfactory to the Secretary to be the father of the applicant and was living with or contributing to the support of that applicant at the time such period of disability began; * *

The child cannot qualify as a child entitled to benefits under certain portions of 216(h) (3) of the Act.

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Bluebook (online)
325 F. Supp. 1067, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13996, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/turley-v-cohen-wvsd-1971.