Under California law, when a person knowingly enters into a bigamous marriage, that marriage is illegal and void from its inception.

QUESTION

You asked whether M~ (Claimant)’s marriage to S~ before the finalization of her divorce from the deceased wage earner (DWE), A~ , precluded her entitlement to mother’s benefits on the DWE’s account.

SHORT ANSWER

No. Under California law, Claimant’s April 5, 2010 marriage to S~ was void from its inception. Accordingly, Claimant was unmarried at the time of the DWE’s death, and she is entitled to mother’s benefits on the DWE’s account if she meets the other applicable requirements.^[1]

SUMMARY OF EVIDENCE

Claimant and the DWE married in Nevada on June 10, 2000. Their child, N~ , was born on October.

On September 23, 2008, Claimant filed for divorce from the DWE in a California Superior Court. The divorce did not become final until August 25, 2010, when the Court issued a judgment dissolving the marriage between Claimant and the DWE. The Court identified N~ as a child of the marriage, awarded his sole legal and physical custody to Claimant, and ordered the DWE to pay $349.00 per month in child support.

On April 5, 2010, Claimant married S~ in Reno, Nevada. In an April 4, 2011 declaration (Form SSA-795), Claimant admitted that she knew she was not legally divorced from the DWE when she married S~. Claimant reported that she, S~, and the DWE all resided in Modesto, California, in April 2010.

DWE died on November 28, 2010, while domiciled in California. Claimant filed an application for mother’s insurance benefits on January 10, 2011 and the agency approved the application.

On June 18, 2014, a California Superior Court issued a judgment nullifying the April 5, 2010 marriage between Claimant and S~, based on Claimant’s previous existing marriage to DWE.

ANALYSIS

Federal Law

Under the Social Security Act (the Act), a surviving divorced wife may be entitled to mother’s benefits on a deceased former husband’s earnings record if she meets the following criteria:

1. 1. 

   She was validly married to the insured under state law, but the marriage ended in a final divorce;

2. 2. 

   She is the mother of the insured’s child;

3. 3. 

   She applied for mother’s benefits;

4. 4. 

   She is unmarried;

5. 5. 

   She is not entitled to widow’s benefits or to an old-age benefits; and

6. 6. 

   She has in her care the insured’s child who is under age sixteen.

Social Security Act §§ 202(g)(1), 216(d)(3),(7); 42 U.S.C. §§ 402(g)(1), 416(d)(3),(7); see also 20 C.F.R. §404.340 (requirements for mother’s or father’s benefits as a surviving divorced spouse); Program Operations Manual System (POMS) RS 00208.010.^[2]

Based on the information you provided, Claimant’s entitlement to mother’s benefits as the DWE’s surviving divorced spouse turns on whether she was unmarried at the time of the DWE’s death.^[3] If Claimant’s April 5, 2010 marriage to S~ was valid and she remained married at the time of the DWE’s death, she would be ineligible for mother’s benefits on the DWE’s account. See POMS RS 00208.035.A (generally, remarriage bars entitlement to mother’s benefits).

California and Nevada Law

Although the Act specifies that the validity of a marriage between a surviving spouse and an insured decedent is determined by the law of the State in which the decedent was domiciled at the time of his death, neither the Act nor our regulations address which law governs the validity of the surviving spouse’s remarriage to a third party. See Social Security Act § 216(h)(1)(A), 42 U.S.C. § 416(h)(1)(A); 20 C.F.R. § 404.345. Here, the information you provided indicates that the DWE was domiciled in California at the time of death but the marriage between Claimant and S~ was celebrated in Nevada. However, because all of the parties to both marriages were domiciled in California at all relevant times, we believe that California law applies to determine the validity of Claimant’s Nevada marriage to S~. See POMS PR 05010.004 (applying Connecticut law to determine the validity of a surviving spouse’s remarriage to a third party because all parties to the matter resided in Connecticut, even though the marriage was celebrated in Arizona). Here, California would also consider Nevada law.

The California Family Code provides that “[a] marriage contracted outside this state that would be valid by the laws of the jurisdiction in which the marriage was contracted is valid in this state.” Cal. Fam. Code § 308; see also In re Marriage of Seaton, 200 Cal. App. 4th 800, 807, 133 Cal. Rptr. 3d 50, 56 (Cal. Ct. App. 2011) (applying Nevada law under Family Code § 308 to determine whether a bigamous marriage entered in Nevada was valid). Claimant married S~ in Reno, Nevada. Accordingly, if Claimant’s second marriage were valid under Nevada law, California would also recognize it as valid.

Under Nevada law, a marriage is prohibited by law and void, even without decree of divorce or annulment, if either party to the marriage had a currently living spouse. Nev. Rev. Stat. §§ 122.020, 125.290; but see Williams v. Williams, 120 Nev. 559, 564, 97 P. 3d 1124, 1127 (Nev. 2004) (parties agreed that the marriage was void under section 125.290, but annulment proceedings were necessary to determine the would-be wife’s entitlement to joint property as a putative spouse based on her good faith belief that the marriage was valid when she entered into it).^[4]

Claimant married S~ on April 5, 2010, before her divorce from the DWE was finalized on August 25, 2010. Because Claimant remained married to the DWE at the time she wed S~, that marriage was void and prohibited under Nevada law. See Nev. Rev. Stat. §§ 122.020, 125.290. Because the marriage was invalid under Nevada law, California, likewise, would consider the marriage invalid. See Cal. Fam. Code § 308.

California courts defer to Nevada law in determining the validity of marriages contracted in Nevada. See, e.g., In re Marriage of Seaton, 200 Cal. App. 4th at 807-808. However, California applies its own law to determine whether a marriage, invalidly contracted in another state, was void from inception or merely voidable. See Cal. Fam. Code § 308. Thus, we look to California law to determine this issue. The California Superior Court, in the June 18, 2014 judgment, nullifying the April 5, 2010 marriage, therefore correctly relied upon California law in nullifying the marriage between Claimant and S~.^[5]

Under California law, when a person knowingly enters into a bigamous marriage, that marriage is illegal and void from its inception. See Cal. Fam. Code § 2201(a); In re Marriage of Seaton, 200 Cal. App. 4th at 806; accord POMS GN 00305.125 (“A void marriage is a marriage that is legally nonexistent from the beginning under state law. The parties to a void marriage are considered never to have been validly married. Therefore, a void marriage requires no formality to terminate.”). By contrast, when a person enters into a bigamous marriage in good faith, the bigamous marriage is voidable. See Cal. Fam. Code § 2210(b). A voidable marriage “is valid for all purposes until it is judicially declared a nullity.” In re Marriage of Seaton, 200 Cal. App. 4th at 807 (citing Estate of Gregorson, 160 Cal. 21, 26-27 (Cal. 1911)); see also POMS GN 00305.130 (“A voidable marriage is a marriage which is defective and can be adjudged void (annulled), but which is considered valid unless and until declared void as a result of a court action on its validity”). Even when a marriage is voidable, it may be adjudged a nullity, and such judgment may “‘relate back’ and erase the marriage” from the outset. In re Marriage of Seaton, 200 Cal. App. 4th at 807 (citation omitted); see also Cal. Fam. Code § 2210(b).

Here, a California Superior Court issued a June 18, 2014 judgment nullifying Claimant’s marriage to S~ under section 2210(b) of the California Family Code, which applies to a voidable marriage. However, Claimant admits that she was aware at the time of her marriage to S~ that she was still married to the DWE. Thus, Claimant’s marriage to S~ was void from its inception even absent a decree of nullity. See Cal. Fam. Code § 2201(a);^[6] Ceja v. Rudolph & Sletten, Inc., 56 Cal. 4th 1113, 302 P.3d 211, 216 (Cal. 2013) (recognizing that putative spouse doctrine applies only when spouse has genuine belief in validity of marriage).

Because Claimant married S~ with full knowledge that she was still currently married to the DWE, her marriage to S~ was void from inception. See Cal. Fam. Code § 2201(a). As the marriage was void from its inception, Claimant was unmarried at the time of the DWE’s death, and her marriage to S~ did not preclude her entitlement to mother’s benefits. See POMS GN 00305.125 (“A void marriage does not preclude initial entitlement to benefits of claimants who must not be married.”). Although a court decree nullifies Claimant’s marriage to S~, the date of that decree is “irrelevant to entitlement as the marriage never existed.” Id.

CONCLUSION

Claimant’s marriage to S~ was void from inception, and, therefore, Claimant was not married at the time of DWE’s death. Accordingly, assuming all other requirements were met, Claimant’s marriage to S~ did not preclude her entitlement to mother’s benefits as a surviving divorced spouse of the DWE.

A California court would find that the claimant (the second wife in a polygamous marriage to the NH) had the same status with respect to taking the intestate personal property of the NH as a surviving spouse. Although the polygamous marriage probably would not be recognized as valid in California, because of California Family Code section 2201, public policy would not be affected, because the sole question would be division of intestate property, with no apparent conflict between interested parties (i.e., claimant, and the son of claimant and the NH).

You asked whether the claimant, L~ (hereinafter, "the claimant"), the second wife in a polygamous marriage to the deceased wage earner, A~ (hereinafter, "the wage earner"), qualifies as the wage earner's widow for purposes of her claim for widow's benefits.

ANSWER

Yes. The claimant is deemed the widow of the wage earner because under the laws applied by the California courts, she would have the same status with respect to taking a share of the wage earner's intestate personal property as the surviving spouse of the wage earner.

SUMMARY OF EVIDENCE

The claimant has apparently submitted copies of various documents to SSA, including evidence of her purported marriage to the wage earner. The evidence submitted by the claimant is assumed to be true so L~ for purposes of the analysis below.

The wage earner apparently married M~ on January 1, 1940. The claimant allegedly married the wage earner, in Vietnam, on February 9, 1948. The wage earner's marriage to M~ apparently ended by her death on February 17, 1982. The wage earner apparently married Y~ on June 5, 1983. The wage earner's marriage to Y~ ended no later than November 9, 1992, the date of the wage earner's death in San Diego, California.^[7] The claimant and the wage earner allegedly had one child, named Hung L~.

ANALYSIS

A. Applicable Law

The Social Security Act (hereinafter the "Act") provides that an applicant is the widow of fully insured individual for purposes of Title II survivor's benefits, if the courts of the State in which the individual was domiciled at the time of his death would find that such applicant and the insured individual were validly married either at the time the application was filed, or at the time the insured individual died. 42 U.S.C. § 416(h)(1)(A)(i); 20 C.F.R. § 404.345 (2003).

Alternatively, if the State courts would not find the applicant and the insured individual were validly married at such time, the applicant shall be deemed to be the widow of the insured individual if she would, under the laws applied by such courts in determining the devolution of intestate personal property, have the same status with respect to the taking of such property as a widow of the insured individual. 42 U.S.C. § 416(h)(1)(A)(ii); 20 C.F.R. § 404.345 (2003).

The California Family Code provides that a marriage contracted outside California that would be valid by the laws of the jurisdiction in which the marriage was contracted is valid in California. Cal. Fam. C. § 308 (West 2003).

The California Family Code also provides that a subsequent marriage contracted by a person during the life of a former husband or wife of the person, with a person other than the former husband or wife, is illegal and void from the beginning, unless, inter alia, the former marriage has been dissolved or adjudged a nullity before the date of the subsequent marriage. Cal. Fam. C. § 2201 (West 2003).

The California Probate Code provides that the surviving spouse's intestate share of a decedent's separate property (i.e., not community property) is the entire intestate estate, if the decedent did not leave any surviving issue, parent, brother, sister, or issue of a deceased brother or sister; or, one-half of the intestate estate where the decedent leaves one child. Cal. Prob. C. § 6401(c) (West 2003).

POMS PR 06005.396, footnote 3 (May 14, 1998), states that "prior to 1959, polygamy was still legal in Viet Nam."

B. Discussion

In 1948, the California Court of Appeal reviewed a proceeding to determine the heirs of a husband possessed of two Legal wives under the laws of the Punjab province of India. Estate of Bir, 83 Cal. App.2d 256, 188 P.2d 499 (1948). The wives relied on the provisions of former California Civil Code section 63, the predecessor of California Family Code section 308.

The court noted the well-settled rule that marriages valid by the laws of the country where they are contracted, are held valid in any other country to which the parties may move, except in cases where the public policy in the country to which they move is an obstacle~, or where the marriage would be regarded as immoral. Estate of Bir, 83 Cal. App.2d at 261 (citation omitted); cf. McDonald v. McDonald, 6 Cal.2d 457, 460, 58 P.2d 163 (1936) (law of place where contract was made governs as to validity of marriage, except when marriage is regarded as odious by common consent of nations, e.g., polygamous). The Bir court held that public policy would not be affected where the only question was descent of property, specifically the uncontested division of money between the two wives. Estate of Bir, 83 Cal. App.2d at 261-62.

Given the facts alleged here, a California court likely would find that the claimant had the same status with respect to taking the intestate personal property of the wage earner as a surviving spouse.^[8] Although the polygamous marriage probably would not be recognized as valid in California, because of California Family Code section 2201, public policy would not be affected, because the sole question would be division of intestate property, with no apparent conflict between interested parties (i.e., claimant, and the son of claimant and the wage earner).

CONCLUSION

Based on the alleged facts set forth above, the claimant would qualify for widow's benefits as the wage earner's surviving spouse under California law.