Horton v. Califano, Civ. A. No. 78-0107-A.

• Decision Date: 04 June 1979
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 78-0107-A.
• Citation: 472 F. Supp. 339
• Parties: Elsie D. HORTON, Timothy L. Horton, and Tammy Horton, Plaintiffs, v. Joseph A. CALIFANO, Jr., Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Virginia

472 F. Supp. 339

Elsie D. HORTON, Timothy L. Horton, and Tammy Horton, Plaintiffs, v. Joseph A. CALIFANO, Jr., Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, Defendant.

Civ. A. No. 78-0107-A.

United States District Court, W. D. Virginia, Abingdon Division.

June 4, 1979.

Stephen E. Arey, Harman & Harman, Tazewell, Va., for plaintiffs.

Robert S. Stubbs, Asst. U. S. Atty., Roanoke, Va., for defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

GLEN M. WILLIAMS, District Judge.

Plaintiffs Elsie D. Horton, Timothy L. Horton, and Tammy Horton have brought this action challenging the final decision of the defendant Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare. This court has jurisdiction under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), and the case is currently before the court on cross motions for summary judgment pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 56.

I. STATEMENT OF FACTS

The facts of this case are essentially undisputed. The wage earner Joe E. Horton filed an application for disability insurance benefits under the Social Security Act on August 28, 1964. Benefits were subsequently awarded. In an opinion which constitutes the final decision of the Secretary, the Social Security Administration's Appeals Council found the date of disability onset to be August 13, 1964.¹ On May 19, 1970, Joe E. Horton filed an application for black lung benefits under the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, as amended, 30 U.S.C. § 901 et seq. Benefits were subsequently awarded retroactive to the month of application. On the basis of these two benefit awards, children's benefits were later awarded to Timothy C. Lowe, Joe E. Horton's step-son by virtue of his marriage to Elsie Horton, and Tammy Horton, a natural child of the couple's marriage.² These two children and their mother are the named plaintiffs in this action.

From about 1959 to 1963, Joe E. Horton had lived with Juanita Van Dyke. Peggy Ann Horton and Larry Earl Horton were born to Juanita Van Dyke during this period. The children's birth certificates indicate that Joe E. Horton is their father. However, the children were clearly born out of wedlock. Under the laws of the State of Virginia in effect at the time of Joe E. Horton's disability onset and black lung eligibility, these two children would not have been entitled to maintain a claim of succession based on their relationship to Joe E. Horton. Va.Code Ann. § 64.1-5 (Repl.Vol. 1973) repealed, Acts of Assembly, 1978, c. 647.³ In 1965 and 1967, applications for children's benefits under the Social Security Act were filed on behalf of both Larry and Peggy Horton on the basis of Joe E. Horton's wage earner's account. On both occasions, both applications were denied on the basis of the determination that the children were illegitimate and not dependent on Joe E. Horton at the time of disability onset.

On April 9, 1975, Juanita Van Dyke again filed application for children's benefits on behalf of Peggy and Larry Horton. Despite Joe E. Horton's denial of paternity, the initial administrative determination resulted in an award of children's benefits to both of the illegitimate children. That award necessitated a reduction of monthly benefits received by the named plaintiffs. On reconsideration, the initial determination was upheld on the basis of the Supreme Court decision in Jimenez v. Weinberger, 417 U.S. 628, 94 S.Ct. 2496, 41 L.Ed.2d 363 (1974). A similar series of events eventually led to an award of dependent's black lung benefits to Peggy and Larry Horton with a concomitant reduction of monthly benefits to Timothy and Tammy Horton.

Upon plaintiffs' appeal of the reconsideration decision, a hearing encompassing both the disability and black lung determinations was conducted on October 29, 1976. In a decision dated April 13, 1977, an administrative law judge reversed the earlier determinations and held that the illegitimate children were not entitled to children's benefits. While the law judge found that Joe E. Horton had acknowledged both illegitimate children at a point after the onset of disability, the law judge denied entitlement on the basis of the finding that Joe E. Horton was neither living with nor contributing to the support of the illegitimate children at the time of onset of the period of disability. See 42 U.S.C. § 416(h)(3)(B).

On January 16, 1978, the Social Security Administration's Appeals Council informed plaintiffs that it was reopening the case for further evaluation, pursuant to the authority of 20 C.F.R. § 404.957(b). See also 20 C.F.R. § 410.672(a) (black lung). The Appeals Council adopted the law judge's findings regarding the fact and time of Joe E. Horton's acknowledgment of the illegitimate children. However, the Appeals Council reversed the law judge on the basis of its conclusion of law that the Supreme Court had eliminated as unconstitutional the statutory requirement of actual dependency for after-acknowledged illegitimate children seeking children's benefits, as reflected in the case of Jimenez v. Weinberger, supra. Thus, the Appeals Council reinstated the reduction of plaintiffs' benefits.

Plaintiffs now complain to this court that the reduction of their benefits was improperly effected under the governing statutory and administrative provisions.

II. PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS

Plaintiffs have raised two-threshold objections to the final administrative determination which are of little consequence. Plaintiffs contend that the Appeals Council improperly reopened the law judge's determination of April 13, 1977. However, since the Appeals Council undertook to reopen the matter within a year, no "good cause" need have been shown as required for reopenings after expiration of a year. See 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.957 and 410.672. Clearly, the Appeals Council's reopening of the matter was both regular and proper.

Plaintiffs also contend that the finding of Joe E. Horton's acknowledgment of the paternity of the two illegitimate children is not supported by "substantial evidence." The record clearly establishes to the contrary. While the law judge did not consider it to be conclusive, the children's birth certificates list Joe E. Horton as their father. He did find it conclusive that on his applications for disability insurance benefits, and in supplemental statements, Joe E. Horton stated that Peggy and Larry Horton were his children. Joe E. Horton paid the hospital bills when those children were born. At the time of his disavowals of paternity, Joe E. Horton's statements were obviously self-serving. The Secretary's finding of acknowledgment is supported by "substantial evidence" and must therefore be affirmed. Richardson v. Perales, 402 U.S. 389, 91 S.Ct. 1420, 28 L.Ed.2d 842 (1971); Laws v. Celebrezze, 368 F.2d 640 (4th Cir. 1966). Consequently, the court must direct its attention to the propriety of the Secretary's conclusions of law.

III. STATUTORY PROVISIONS

A review of the statutory matrix governing illegitimate children's benefits is crucial to an understanding of this case. 42 U.S.C. § 402(d)(1) sets forth the criteria for the granting of children's disability insurance benefits, and 42 U.S.C. § 402(d)(1) requires an applicant to be a disabled wage earner's "child" who is "dependent" on the wage earner. Thus, in order to receive benefits, an illegitimate must qualify under the Act as a "child" who is "dependent" on the wage earner.

The determination of an illegitimate's status as a wage earner's "child" is made by reference to a number of statutory subsections, any one of which is sufficient to qualify an individual as a "child." The illegitimate is a "child" if the illegitimate can inherit personal property from the wage earner under the relevant state's intestate laws, 42 U.S.C. § 416(h)(2)(A), or if the applicant's parents' marriage is invalid only because of a mere legal impediment. 42 U.S.C. § 416(h)(2)(B). If an illegitimate cannot fit under these two subsections, he may still establish himself as a "child" by showing that — before the wage earner's disability began — the wage earner acknowledged the illegitimate, 42 U.S.C. § 416(h) (3)(B)(i)(I), or that a court decreed the wage earner to be his father, 42 U.S.C. § 416(h)(3)(B)(i)(II), or that a court ordered the wage earner to support the illegitimate. 42 U.S.C. § 416(h)(3)(B)(i)(III). As a final resort, an illegitimate may attain the status of "child" by proving that the wage earner was living with the illegitimate or contributing to his support when the wage earner became disabled. 42 U.S.C. § 416(h)(3) (B)(ii).

Qualifying under the statute as the wage earner's "child" is a necessary condition to an illegitimate's receiving benefits; however, it is not sufficient, for an illegitimate must be "dependent" on the wage earner as well. The status of a "dependent" is conferred by 42 U.S.C. § 402(d)(3) upon every "child," unless the wage earner was not living with or contributing to the child's support and the child is not legitimate. However an illegitimate who qualifies as a child under Section 416(h)(2)(B) or Section 416(h)(3) is deemed to be a legitimate child, who is thereby deemed dependent by operation of Section 402(d)(3).

Therefore, under the statutory scheme, if an illegitimate can qualify as a "child" under 42 U.S.C. § 416(h)(3)(B), he will automatically be deemed "dependent" and will therefore be qualified for benefits, if of course he is otherwise qualified under the Act. In the instant case, this court's scrutiny is brought to bear on Section 416(h)(3)(B) because of two illegitimates' failure to fit within its terms.

The Horton illegitimate children's claims should have been denied under a strict application of the governing statutory matrix, exclusive of the question of statutory constitutionality. The Horton illegitimates were neither legitimate nor, as previously noted, entitled to maintain a claim of succession based on their relationship to their father under the applicable state laws at the time of their applications. Moreover, their illegitimacy...