Alexis Lawrence, Guardian and Next Friend on Behalf of Kemmerlyn D. Lawrence, a Minor v. Shirley S. Chater, Commissioner of Social Security (516 U.S. 163)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 8, 1996 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 516 U.S. 163 · 116 S. Ct. 604
- Decided
- January 8, 1996
- Term
- October Term 1995
- Vote
- 7–2
- Issue area
- Judicial Power
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Per Curiam. Under the Social Security Act, the unmarried minor “child” of a deceased individual who was insured under the Act may receive survivors’ benefits if she was “dependent upon such individual” prior to his death. 49 Stat. 623, as amended, 42 U. S. C. § 402(d)(1)(C) (1988 ed.). In order to determine whether a claimant is, for these purposes, the “child” of the deceased, and, as such, eligible to receive benefits, the Commissioner of Social Security “shall apply such law as would be applied in determining the devolution of intestate personal property by the courts of the State in which [the] insured individual. . . was domiciled at the time of his death.” 42 U. S. C. § 416(h)(2)(A) (1988 ed.). The petitioner in this case, Lawrence, asserts an entitlement to benefits under these provisions. In so doing, she acknowledges that the relevant state law, that of North Carolina, appears on its face to defeat her claim by imposing procedural requirements on proof of paternity (which it requires as a prerequisite for intestate succession) that she cannot meet. She contends, however, that these difficulties can be overcome in her case as they were in Handley v. Schweiker, 697 F. 2d 999 (1983). In that case, the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that state-law requirements of proof of paternity can only be applied against a claimant for benefits under § 416(h)(2)(A)…
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