Lucas v. SECRETARY, DEPT. OF HEALTH, EDUCATION & WELF.

• Decision Date: 25 February 1975
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 4845.
• Citation: 390 F. Supp. 1310
• Parties: Ruby M. LUCAS, and Darin E. Lucas, infant minors, by their mother and next friend Belmira Lucas v. SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION AND WELFARE, United States of America,
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Rhode Island

390 F. Supp. 1310

Ruby M. LUCAS, and Darin E. Lucas, infant minors, by their mother and next friend Belmira Lucas v. SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION AND WELFARE, United States of America,

Civ. A. No. 4845.

United States District Court, D. Rhode Island.

February 25, 1975.

Thomas W. Pearlman, Providence, R. I., for plaintiffs.

Everett Sammartino, Asst. U. S. Atty., Providence, R. I., for defendant.

OPINION

PETTINE, Chief Judge.

This action is presently before the court to consider the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment. The action was originally filed in 1972 to seek review under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) of the final decision of the Secretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (hereinafter "Secretary") denying plaintiffs surviving child's benefits under the Social Security Act as the children of a deceased wage earner. 42 U.S.C. § 402(d).

STATUTORY SCHEME

On October 24, 1968, Belmira Lucas filed for Surviving Child's Insurance benefits on behalf of her minor children Ruby Marie Lucas and Darin Edward Lucas, on the earnings record of Robert E. Cuffee, a deceased insured. The Social Security Act (the "Act"), 42 U.S.C. § 402(d), details who is eligible for such benefits and provides, in pertinent part:

"§ 402 Child's insurance benefits

(d)(1) Every child (as defined in section 416(e) of this title) . . . of an individual who dies a fully or currently insured individual, if such child—

(A) has filed application for child's insurance benefits, and

* * * * * *

(C) was dependent upon such individual—

* * * * * *

(ii) if such individual has died, at the time of such death,

* * * * * *

shall be entitled to a child's insurance benefit."

Thus, in theory, in order to be eligible for surviving child's benefits, an applicant must establish, first, that he is the child of the deceased insured and, second, that he was dependent upon the deceased insured at the time of the latter's death. The Act goes on to define the term "child" in 42 U.S.C. § 416(e) and (h). Subsection (e) provides that "child" includes a legitimate or legally adopted child of an individual and certain step-children. In addition, subsection (h) provides that certain biological children of the deceased, although considered by law to be illegitimate, also fall within the statutory definition of "child." These categories are described in the following statutory provisions. Section 416(h)(2)(A) of 42 U.S.C. provides that the statutory term "child" includes a claimant who would take property as a child under the laws of intestate succession of the State of the deceased's domicile at death. Section 416(h)(2)(B) provides that the statutory definition of "child" also includes the biological child of a purported marriage which is invalid due to a non-obvious legal impediment. Lastly, § 416(h)(3)(C) includes within the statutory definition of "child" the son or daughter of a deceased insured who:

"42 U.S.C. § 416(h)(3)(C)(i) (I) had acknowledged in writing that the applicant is his son or daughter,

(II) had been decreed by a court to be the father of the applicant, or

(III) had been ordered by a court to contribute to the support of the applicant because the applicant was his son or daughter,

and such acknowledgment, court decree, or court order was made before the death of such insured individual, or

(ii) such insured individual is shown by evidence satisfactory to the Secretary to have been the father of the applicant, and such insured individual was living with or contributing to the support of the applicant at the time such insured individual died."

A claimant who has established that he meets the statutory definition of "child" under 42 U.S.C. § 416(e) or (h) must next show that he meets the age and marital requirements of 42 U.S.C. § 402(d)(1)(B),¹ and must show that he was "dependent" upon the deceased insured pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 402(d)(1) (C)(ii). However, § 402(d)(3) conclusively presumes that the requisite dependency exists as to a legitimate or adopted child of the insured, as defined in § 416(e) and (h)(2)(A), and as to any claimant who falls within one of the statutory definitions of "child" provided in § 416(h)(2)(B) or § 416(h)(3).² Thus, the net operative effect of these provisions, when read together, is to relieve all subclasses of applicants for surviving child's benefits, except one, of the burden of demonstrating actual dependency on, or indeed any monetary support by, the deceased insured at the time of death. The only subclass of applicants required to make a showing of support is described in 42 U.S.C. § 416(h)(3)(C) (ii) as the illegitimate child of the insured who does not meet the provisions of either § 416(h)(2) or § 416(h)(3)(C)(i) and who was not living with the insured at the time of his death. It would be fair to say that in a comparison of all the subclasses of illegitimate children defined by § 416(h), the child defined by this last subclass represents that type of illegitimate child with the least factual or legal indicia of legitimacy or commonly recognized family ties to the deceased insured.³

PRIOR PROCEEDINGS

A review of the prior proceedings in this Court demonstrates that the only issue remaining before the Court is to determine whether 42 U.S.C. § 416 (h)(3)(C)(ii) violates the equal protection component of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amentment. Bolling v. Sharpe, 347 U.S. 497, 74 S.Ct. 693, 98 L.Ed. 884 (1954). See also Frontiero v. Richardson, 411 U.S. 677, 680 n. 5, 93 S.Ct. 1764, 36 L.Ed.2d 583 (1973).

This action first came before a single judge to review, under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), the Secretary's denial of surviving child's benefits to plaintiffs. In an opinion and order rendered March 2, 1973, the author herein reviewed the record and factual findings made below. Ruling that the Secretary's findings were supported by substantial evidence, the Court accepted as conclusive the following facts. 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). Lucas v. Secretary, Department of Health, Education and Welfare, C.A. # 4845 (D.R.I. 3/2/73) (hereinafter "Lucas I"). Robert Cuffee, the deceased insured, lived with plaintiffs' mother, Mrs. Belmira Lucas, from 1948 to 1966. They never married. The two minor plaintiffs, Ruby Marie Lucas and Darin Edward Lucas, were born of this union. However, the Secretary concluded that Cuffee had not acknowledged his paternity in writing, nor had his paternity or support obligations ever been the subject of a judicial proceeding. As a result, the Court concluded the minor plaintiffs did not meet the requirements of 42 U. S.C. § 416(h)(3)(C)(i)(I), (II), or (III), under which plaintiffs' eligibility for the benefits would have been automatic.

The Court next turned its attention to the question of eligibility under § 416(h)(3)(C)(ii). The administrative hearing examiner found, and the Court agreed, that no evidence had been presented to show that Cuffee was living with the plaintiffs at the time of his death. As to the question whether Cuffee had been "contributing to the support of" his children, the minor plaintiffs herein, the Court stated:

"The term `contributing to the support of' means regular and substantial support, and is not satisfied by occasional gifts and minor contributions at irregular intervals. Turley v. Cohen, 325 F.Supp. 1067, 1070 (D.W.Va. 1970); Hupp v. Celebrezze, 220 F. Supp. 463 (N.D.Iowa 1962); Carey v. Social Security Board, 62 F.Supp. 458 (W.D.Ky.1945). In reviewing the administrative determination that Cuffee was not contributing to the support of the plaintiffs, this Court must consider whether such a determination is supported by substantial evidence. In Laws v. Celebrezze, 368 F.2d 640 (4th Cir. 1966), the court defined `substantial evidence' 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.'

* * * * * *

In any event, a conclusion that plaintiffs received no support or just occasional irregular support from the insured during the last year of his life is supported by substantial evidence. The fact that this Court might have assessed the evidence and concluded differently is irrelevant. The finding of defendant that Robert Cuffee was neither living with nor contributing to the support of the plaintiffs is affirmed."

Id., slip op. at 8-10.

Although it concluded that plaintiffs were not eligible under § 416(h) (3) (C) (ii), the Court remanded the case for an administrative determination as to whether the plaintiffs were legitimate children under Rhode Island law as the issue of a valid common law marriage. If so, the Court reasoned, each plaintiff would have been entitled to take by intestacy a child's share of the personal property of their father, whose domicile at death was Rhode Island, and would thereby meet the eligibility requirements for benefits under 42 U.S.C. §§ 402(d)(3) and 416(h)(2) (A) despite the fact that plaintiffs had failed to make a satisfactory showing of factual dependence on Cuffee for support at the time of his death. R.I.G.L. §§ 33-1-10, 33-1-1, and 15-8-21 (1956, 1969 Reenactment). Lucas I, slip op. at 11-16.

On remand, the Secretary ruled that Belmira Lucas and Robert Cuffee had never entered into a valid common law marriage and that, as a result, their children were not eligible for the benefits sought herein under 42 U.S.C. § 416(h)(2)(A). Pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g), plaintiffs once again sought reversal of the Secretary's decision, on two grounds: first, they claimed that the Secretary had erred in his assessment of the evidence and applicable Rhode Island law; and second, they claimed that 42 U.S.C. § 416(h)(3)(C)(ii) was unconstitutional because it conditioned plaintiffs' eligibility on proof of actual dependency without requiring a similar showing of legitimate surviving children. Plaintiffs thereupon moved for summary judgment, seeking both to...