For the purpose of entitlement to child’s insurance benefits under Section 202(d) of the Social Security Act (Act), a child may qualify as the child of the number holder (NH) under criteria in section 216(e), 216(h)(2), or 216(h)(3) of Title II of the Act. This section summarizes the categories of children under these sections of the Act. Unless otherwise indicated, the term "child," for purposes of relationship, refers to:

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  claimants under age 18;

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  childhood disability claimants age 18 or over; and

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  claimants who are full-time elementary or secondary students under age 19.

Except for a posthumously conceived child, develop the child’s relationship under any category in the chart in GN 00306.002F that will facilitate entitlement. If you cannot entitle a child under one category, check to see if there might be entitlement under another category. You may develop the child's relationship under more than one category concurrently or consecutively, e.g., development under State law and section 216(h)(3). Follow the line of development that will permit payment as soon as possible. Then, pursue any earlier possible entitlement date once the child is in pay.

For instructions for a posthumously conceived child, see GN 00306.014D.

Unless otherwise indicated in this subchapter, if an individual is a “child” for purposes of the Act, the father or mother is a “parent” for purposes of the Act. For information on parent’s benefits, see RS 00209.000.

IMPORTANT: Do not allow or disallow Title II benefits solely on instructions in this overview section. To determine if a parent-child relationship exists, follow instructions in GN 00306.001 through GN 00306.680.

To meet the relationship requirement for Title II child's benefits, the child must be dependent on the NH (see GN 00306.002C), and be one of the following:

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  able to inherit as the NH's child under State intestacy law; or

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  the NH's biological child born during an invalid ceremonial marriage; or

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  the NH's biological child who meets the criteria in section 216(h)(3) of the Act; or

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  the NH's legally adopted child, or child adopted by the NH's surviving spouse; or

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  the NH's equitably adopted child; or

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  the NH's child adopted by estoppel; or

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  the NH's stepchild; or

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  the NH's grandchild or step-grandchild, or the NH's grandchild or step-grandchild adopted by the NH's surviving spouse.

For more information on each of these categories, refer to the chart in GN 00306.002F.

IMPORTANT: Do not disallow a claim for child's benefits based on one child relationship category without first considering entitlement under other child relationship categories or before requesting a legal opinion, if one is required.

A child must be dependent on the NH at one of the specified points in GN 00306.007 through GN 00306.009. The law deems some children to be dependent on the NH, i.e., presumed to be dependent without further development. In other cases, children must prove actual dependency. For quick reference, the chart in GN 00306.002F shows the dependency requirement for each parent-child relationship category. For dependency requirements for a stepchild, see GN 00306.232.

To establish dependency at any point in time, the child must have been in existence and had the necessary relationship to the NH at the point in time in question. We consider a child to have been in existence during the period of gestation (see GN 00306.001G). For purposes of the dependency requirement, support for an unborn child during the period of gestation may be shown by proof that the NH made contributions to either the unborn child (e.g., baby clothes or a crib) or the mother (e.g., food, shelter, or medical care).

IMPORTANT: For a posthumously conceived child, see GN 00306.014D.

If we disallowed a child’s earlier claim for benefits on a living NH’s earnings record for failure to meet the dependency requirement, you may establish a new support period for a subsequent application. If the subsequent application introduces new evidence that could establish dependency, make a new determination. To determine if a child meets the dependency requirement, see the chart in GN 00306.002F.

The child’s month of entitlement based on a subsequent application is the later of:

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  the earliest month of potential entitlement based on the retroactivity of the subsequent application as set out in GN 00204.030; or

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  the date the change in the dependency circumstance occurred.

If, after entitlement, we receive additional evidence making the prior determination of a parent-child relationship questionable, continue payment until we resolve the issue.

If the award was clearly erroneous and it is possible to reopen under the rules of administrative finality in GN 04000.000, follow the instructions in GN 01010.480B.

If the award is questionable and it is possible to reopen under the rules of administrative finality in GN 04000.000, follow the instructions for reopening erroneous awards in GN 01010.480C.

If necessary, request a legal opinion on the validity of the parent-child relationship and whether we can reopen the determination using instructions in GN 01010.815.

IMPORTANT: If the award cannot be reopened and revised, do not terminate the child’s benefits based on the additional evidence. For post-entitlement events that may terminate a child’s entitlement to benefits, see RS 00203.035.

The chart in this subsection shows:

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  the categories of parent-child relationships under Title II of the Act;

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  the dependency requirement for each category;

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  the relationship code to be input on the Child Relationship (CREL) screen in the Modernized Claims System (MCS) for each child relationship category; and

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  references.