Renshaw v. Heckler

• Decision Date: 31 March 1986
• Docket Number: D,No. 581,581
• Citation: 787 F.2d 50
• Parties: , Unempl.Ins.Rep. CCH 16,787 Edith L. RENSHAW, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Margaret HECKLER, as Secretary of United States Department of Health and Human Services, Defendant-Appellee. ocket 85-6272.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit

Page 50

787 F.2d 50

13 Soc.Sec.Rep.Ser. 181, Unempl.Ins.Rep. CCH 16,787

Edith L. RENSHAW, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Margaret HECKLER, as Secretary of United States Department of Health and Human Services, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 581, Docket 85-6272.

United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit.

Argued Dec. 20, 1985.

Decided March 31, 1986.

James R. Sheldon, Jr., Buffalo, N.Y. (Neighborhood Legal Services, Inc., Buffalo, N.Y., of counsel), for plaintiff-appellant.

Jacqueline Stover, Sp. Asst. U.S. Atty. for the W.D. of N.Y. (Salvatore R. Martoche, U.S. Atty. for the W.D. of N.Y., C. Donald O'Connor, Asst. U.S. Atty. for the W.D. of N.Y., of counsel), for defendant-appellee.

Before MESKILL, PRATT, Circuit Judges, and MacMAHON, Senior District Judge for the Southern District of New York, sitting by designation.

GEORGE C. PRATT, Circuit Judge:

This appeal presents a single question: did the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the district court err in determining that, under Pennsylvania law, plaintiff Edith L. Renshaw was not the common-law wife of the decedent Albert Renshaw, and therefore not entitled to widow's insurance benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act. Finding that Edith and Albert Renshaw had entered into a valid common-law marriage under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, we reverse the decision of the district court and remand to the Secretary for action consistent with this opinion.

BACKGROUND

After a brief courtship following their respective divorces from other individuals, Albert and Edith Renshaw began living together on July 5, 1958 in Baltimore, Maryland. Although the couple did not have a formal ceremonial marriage, Mrs. Renshaw testified that when she and Mr. Renshaw began living together they agreed to live "just as though [they] were married" and that they considered themselves "husband and wife". The evidence supports her assertion.

Edith immediately adopted the last name Renshaw and a short time later, changed the name on her social security card--the only identification she had at that time--to reflect her new status. The couple told friends and relatives that they had been married, and introduced each other to relatives, friends, and acquaintances as husband and wife.

Mr. Renshaw gave Mrs. Renshaw a wedding band shortly after they began to live together, and throughout the 21 years they lived together they celebrated July 5 as their marriage anniversary. The couple never separated or broke up, and Mrs. Renshaw testified that neither ever had relationships with others during this time. Moreover, the couple filed joint tax returns as husband and wife, and Mr. Renshaw listed Mrs. Renshaw as his wife and beneficiary on his life insurance policy.

Immediately after their marriage the Renshaws lived in Maryland for several months. After that, they moved to Buffalo, New York, where they lived for the next twenty years. During this time, the couple had one child, Lorna Gail Renshaw.

On approximately eight occasions between 1968 and 1975, the Renshaws drove It is unknown whether the couple signed the register as husband and wife since the motel records were unavailable and since Mrs. Renshaw never accompanied her husband to the motel office when he signed the guest register. However, she did recall hearing him make reservations by phone and specifying the date and the fact that he would be there with himself, his wife, and his daughter.

to Virginia and North Carolina to visit relatives. Since the visits required a lengthy drive each way, the Renshaws always spent the night at the Port Motel in Port Treverton, Pennsylvania, a state that recognizes common-law marriage. Their daughter always accompanied them on these trips; on occasions when Mr. Renshaw's mother was in Buffalo, she also traveled with them.

While at the motel in Pennsylvania, the Renshaws would check into their room, eat dinner at the restaurant, walk around the motel grounds, retire for the evening, and continue their journey the next morning. With the exception of a coincidental meeting with her brother, who believed that she and Mr. Renshaw were legally married, the couple never met anyone they knew while in Pennsylvania.

DISCUSSION

Section 202(e) of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 402(e), provides that a widow of an individual who died while fully insured is entitled to widow's insurance benefits, if she meets certain other conditions not in issue on this appeal. Section 216(h)(1)(A) of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 416(h)(1)(A), provides that an applicant is the widow of an insured individual if the courts of the state in which the insured individual was domiciled at the time of his death would find that the applicant and insured individual were validly married at the time of his death. Since Mr. and Mrs. Renshaw were domiciled in New York at the time of his death, New York law governs her status as a widow.

Although New York does not itself recognize common-law marriages, a common-law marriage contracted in another state will be recognized as valid in New York if it is valid where contracted. Mott v. Duncan Petroleum Trans., 51 N.Y.2d 289, 292, 434 N.Y.S.2d 155, 157, 414 N.E.2d 657, 659 (1980). The law to be applied in determining the validity of such a marriage is the law of the state in which the marriage occurred. Id. Since plaintiff claims that she contracted a common-law marriage with her husband in Pennsylvania during their travels through the state, the appropriate law to apply is the law of Pennsylvania.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania recognizes the institution of common-law marriage. In re Estate of Stauffer, 504 Pa. 626, 476 A.2d 354, 356 (1984). Believing that common-law marriage is a fruitful source of perjury and fraud, however, the Pennsylvania courts have imposed a heavy burden on one who grounds his or her claim on an allegation of common-law marriage. Id.

Generally, a common-law marriage may be created by uttering words in the present tense with the intent to establish a marital relationship, Commonwealth v. Sullivan, 484 Pa. 130, 398 A.2d 978, 980 (1979); but where no such utterance is proved, Pennsylvania law also permits a finding of marriage based on reputation and cohabitation when established by satisfactory proof. In re Estate of Wagner, 398 Pa. 531, 159 A.2d 495, 498 (1960).

In reaching his determination that the Renshaws had not entered into a valid common-law marriage under Pennsylvania law, the magistrate--to whom the case was referred on consent of the parties--noted that "if the facts had shown that the Renshaws lived their lives primarily in Pennsylvania, and conducted themselves there as the evidence indicates they conducted their lives in New York, their marriage would be declared a valid common-law marriage by a Pennsylvania court." "Under this hypothetical", he continued, "the facts would show the plaintiff clearly was entitled to the presumption of marriage by her showing of the continuous relationship and the The facts admittedly present a unique situation. Although we have found no Pennsylvania cases directly on point, New York courts have recognized valid common-law marriages under similar factual situations. McCullon...