Whitlock ex rel. Branch v. Chater

959 F. Supp. 324, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4906, 1997 WL 130702
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Virginia
DecidedMarch 12, 1997
DocketCivil Action No. 96-0665-R
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 959 F. Supp. 324 (Whitlock ex rel. Branch v. Chater) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Whitlock ex rel. Branch v. Chater, 959 F. Supp. 324, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4906, 1997 WL 130702 (W.D. Va. 1997).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

CONRAD, United States Magistrate Judge.

Mary Whitlock has filed this action on behalf of her son, Ronald E. Branch, challenging the final decision of the Commissioner of Social Security denying a claim filed on behalf of Ronald E. Branch for child’s insurance benefits under the Social Security Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 402(d). Plaintiff also seeks review of the refusal of the Social Security Administration to re-open earlier claims for child’s insurance benefits under the provisions of 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.987 - 404.989. jurisdiction of this court is asserted pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). This ease is before the undersigned United States Magistrate Judge pursuant to consent of the parties entered under the authority of 28 U.S.C. § 636(c)(2).

As reflected by the memoranda and argument submitted by the parties, the issues now before this court are whether the Commissioner’s final decision denying the most recent claim for child’s insurance benefits is supported by substantial evidence, and if it is not, whether plaintiff has met the burden of proof as prescribed and pursuant to the Act. Stated briefly, substantial evidence has been defined as such relevant evidence, considering the record as a whole, as might be found adequate to support a conclusion by a reasonable mind. Richardson v. Perales, 402 U.S. 389, 400, 91 S.Ct. 1420, 1426-27, 28 L.Ed.2d 842 (1971). The court must also decide whether it has jurisdiction to consider plaintiff’s claim that the Commissioner erred in refusing to reopen the earlier applications for child’s insurance benefits.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Mary Whitlock is the mother of Ronald E. Branch. Ronald was bom on February 5, 1978. It is undisputed that Curtis E. Allen was the father of Ronald E. Branch. Mary Whitlock and Curtis E. Allen were never married. Curtis E. Allen died on August 7, 1977. It is undisputed that at the time of his death, Curtis E. Allen was fully insured for social security purposes, as provided under 42 U.S.C. § 414(a) and as referenced under 42 U.S.C. § 402(d)(1). On March 22, 1994, Mrs. Whitlock filed an application for child’s insurance benefits on behalf of Ronald. The claim was filed on the wage earner’s account of Curtis E. Allen. The record before the court indicates that Mrs. Whitlock had previously filed a number of other claims on behalf of Ronald for child’s insurance benefits. There is some uncertainty in the record as to both the number and the dates of these earlier applications. Mrs. Whitlock testified at the administrative hearing in the instant case, however, that no administrative hearings had been conducted in connection with any of the earlier applications for benefits. (TR 34).

Mrs. Whitlock’s most recent application was denied upon initial consideration and reconsideration. She then requested and received a de novo hearing and review before an Administrative Law Judge. In an opinion dated June 12, 1995, the Law Judge also denied the application for child’s insurance benefits. Stated succinctly, the Law Judge found that Ronald E. Branch was not dependent upon Curtis E. Allen at the time of his father’s death. As will be discussed in more detail below, “dependency” upon the wage earner is one of the requirements for entitlement to child’s insurance benefits. Inasmuch as the Law Judge held that Ronald E. [326]*326Branch was not dependent upon his father at the time of his father’s death, it necessarily follows that the Law judge concluded that Ronald was never entitled to child’s insurance benefits on the wage earner’s account of Curtis E. Allen at any point in time. Thus, the Law Judge did not directly address the issue of reopening the earlier applications. However, as regards the matter of issue preclusion in general, the Law Judge commented as follows:

The claimant testified that she had filed previous applications for child’s insurance benefits and the Social Security computer record indicates a previous filing in July 1982. Efforts were made to obtain this record but were unsuccessful. Therefore, the issue of res adjudicaba is not considered in this decision. (TR 15).

The Law Judge’s opinion was adopted as the final decision of the Commissioner by the Social Security Administration’s Appeals Council. Having exhausted all available administrative remedies, Mrs. Whitlock has now appealed to this court.

STATEMENT OF THE APPLICABLE STATUTORY PROVISIONS

Under 42 U.S.C. § 402(d)(1), entitlement to child’s insurance benefits is conditioned as follows:

Every 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, if such child—
(A) has filed application for child’s insurance benefits;
(B) at the time such application was filed was unmarried and (i) either had not attained the age of 18 or was a full-time elementary or secondary school student and had not attained the age of 19, or (ii) is under a disability (as defined in section 423(d) of this title) which began before he attained the age of 22, and
(C) was dependent upon such individual—
(ii) if such individual has died, at the time of such death. shall be entitled to child’s insurance benefits ____

Thus, one of the primary conditions for entitlement is that the child be dependent upon the individual on whose wage earner’s account the application is made. For the purpose of determining dependency, 42 U.S.C. § 402(d)(3) provides as follows:

A child shall be deemed dependent upon his father or adopting father or his mother or adopting mother at the time specified in paragraph (1)(D) of this subsection unless, at such time, such individual was not living with or contributing to the support of such child and—
(A) such child is neither the legitimate nor adopted child of such individual, or
(B) such child has been adopted by some other individual.
For purposes of this paragraph, a child deemed to be a child of a fully or currently insured individual pursuant to section 416(h)(2)(B) or section 416(h)(3) of this title shall be deemed to be the legitimate child of such individual.

Therefore, it is necessary that Ronald E. Branch be deemed to be a legitimate child of Curtis E. Allen in order for Ronald to meet the dependency requirement for child’s insurance benefits.'

As referenced under 42 U.S.C.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
959 F. Supp. 324, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4906, 1997 WL 130702, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/whitlock-ex-rel-branch-v-chater-vawd-1997.