Posted by Afther Hussain in Uncategorized

S.C

The fresh new claimant taken out disabled widow’s insurance coverage benefits on the worker’s earnings checklist, although Assistant rejected their own application as claimant failed to meet the 9-week CrГ©ditos fdating stage-of-wedding criteria inside the 42 You. 416(c). It assertion is kept by the section court. The latest claimant then appealed with the You.S. Judge regarding Is attractive towards the First Circuit. The fresh new judge out-of is attractive indexed one Puerto Rico cannot recognize common-rules marriage ceremonies and that the needs to have setting-up a legitimate matrimony inside Puerto Rico are ready forth when you look at the Article 69 of one’s Municipal Code, 30 L.P.Roentgen.A good. § 231. This new court found that, in such a case, the needs of Blog post 69 had been demonstrably not fulfilled 9 days ahead of the worker’s dying. The brand new courtroom further unearthed that brand new claimant’s constitutional “equal safety” attack to your 9-month stage-of-matrimony criteria is incorrect less than Weinberger v. Salfi, 422 You.S. 749, 95 S.Ct. 2457, 45 L.Ed.2d 522 (1975), and Mathews v. de- Castro, 429 U.S. 181, 97 S.Ct. 431, 50 L.Ed.2d 389 (1976). The fresh claimant also debated that, once the she was brand new worker’s concubine, she had the right significantly less than Puerto Rican rules to inherit out-of brand new worker’s estate because the his widow, and you will she is considered are the newest widow of personnel under 42 You. 416(h)(1)(A). The fresh court of is attractive found that, less than Puerto Rican rules, an effective concubine of an employee provides a straight to a portion of the home gotten over the course of concubinage but really does not have a straight to inherit a good widow’s express of inactive worker’s intestate individual assets. Thus, new claimant cannot be considered to be the latest widow out of the fresh new personnel around 42 You. 416(h)(1)(A) of the applying of regulations from Puerto Rico towards intestate succession. When you look at the maintaining the region court’s decision affirming this new Secretary’s denial off that it claim having widow’s positives, the newest legal of is attractive stored your claimant was not called so you can benefits once the handicapped widow of your own staff.

She argued you to definitely, because she in addition to personnel got cohabited for 2 decades past with the go out of their ceremonial matrimony, its cohabitation got switched the relationships into the an appropriate wedding really until the 9-week period

Appellant Esther Ayuso Morales wanted Social Cover handicap masters centered their updates since the “widow” of your insured worker Honorio Montanez Figueroa. Lower than 42 You. § 416(c) to meet the requirements while the a beneficial “widow” a woman should have started hitched for around nine weeks during the time of their partner’s death. Appellant’s matrimony occurred inside the nine-week several months. Pros was indeed refuted.

Into notice, she urges you to definitely the woman is nevertheless eligible as she cohabited which have their own spouse to have two decades prior to the marriage. She adds one, anyhow, lower than 42 U. § 416(h)(1)(A) an applicant is actually an excellent widow if she would, “in statutes . . . [away from Puerto Rico] deciding the brand new devolution from intestate individual property, have the same position . . . because a spouse . . . [or] widow. . . .” Pick generally, Rombauer, Marital Reputation and you can Qualification to have Federal Legal Income Professionals: A historical Questionnaire, 52 Tidy.L.Rev. 227, 257 mais aussi. seq. (1977). She states the concubinage law off Puerto Rico gives her eg status.

We can’t undertake appellant’s first conflict. We all know one some common laws jurisdictions accept low-ceremonial otherwise “common law marriages.” This type of marriages are produced of the agree of your own people since other package. F.W. Kuchlar, Law away from Wedding and Relationships step 1-5 (2d ed. 1978); get a hold of O.Elizabeth. Koegel, Common-law ent in america (1922). But common law marriage ceremonies commonly accepted from inside the Puerto Rico. The fresh new requisites away from a valid wedding inside the Puerto Rico are ready forth in Blog post 69 of your own Municipal Code, 31 L.P.Roentgen.A. § 231. Provided of those requisites is the “[a]uthorization and occasion off an effective matrimonial offer according to the versions and you can solemnities prescribed for legal reasons.” On the lack of these types of forms and solemnities, you will find no marriage. Rivera v. District Court away from San Juan, 58 P.Roentgen.Roentgen. 352, 354 (1941); Vazquez Bote, Notas sobre el matrimonio en derecho puertoriqueno, 49-56 Rev. P.Roentgen. 491, 493-94, 510-several (1973-75). Elizabeth. Lalaguana Dominguez, Estudios de derecho matrimonial 244-forty five (1962).