Under Title II of the Act, a claimant may be entitled to child’s insurance benefits on an insured individual’s account if, among other things, he or she is the insured individual’s child.^[2] See 42 U.S.C. § 402(d)(1); 20 C.F.R. § 404.350. The Act and regulations define “child” as an insured number holder’s natural child, legally adopted child, stepchild, grandchild, step grandchild, or equitably adopted child. See 42 U.S.C. § 416(e); 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.354˗.359. Consistent with the scope of your request, our inquiry first focuses on whether the Claimant is the NH’s natural child.

To determine a claimant’s status as a natural child, the agency must determine whether the claimant could inherit the insured individual’s personal property as his or her child under the intestacy laws of the State where the insured number holder had his or her permanent home at the time the claimant filed the application for benefits. See 42 U.S.C. § 416(h)(2)(A); 20 C.F.R. § 404.355(a)(1), (b). Arkansas law controls because the NH’s permanent home was in Arkansas at the time Claimant filed his application for benefits on the NH’s record. Therefore, we apply Arkansas intestate succession laws to determine whether the Claimant could inherit from the NH as her child.

1. Maternal Inheritance under Arkansas Intestate Succession Laws

As noted, there appears to be no dispute that the NH is the Claimant’s biological and birth mother. See POMS GN 00306.001(C) (“A woman is ‘biologically related’ to a child if she contributes genetic material, i.e., an ovum or DNA, to the child.”), (D) (“A ‘birth mother is the woman who carries and gives birth to a child. A birth mother may or may not contribute her own genetic material, i.e., DNA, to the child. Traditionally, State law presumes a birth mother to be the legal mother of a child to whom she gave birth. Adoption, surrogacy, or ART may provide exceptions to this presumption.”). We consider Arkansas law regarding inheritance from a biological and birth mother.

Arkansas intestate succession laws distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate children and provide for different methods of proving the parent-child relationship for inheritance purposes for legitimate versus illegitimate children. See Ark. Code Ann. § 28-9-209. Arkansas law identifies the following four methods by which a child is treated as a legitimate child and is able to inherit through intestate succession:

(a)(1) If the parents of a child have lived together as man and wife and, before the birth of their child, have participated in a marriage ceremony in apparent compliance with the law of the state where the marriage ceremony was performed, though the attempted marriage is void, their child is deemed to be the legitimate child of both parents for all purposes of intestate succession.

(2) A child born or conceived during a marriage is presumed to be the legitimate child of both spouses for the same purposes.

(b) If a man has a child or children by a woman, and afterward intermarries with her and recognizes the child or children to be his, the child or children shall be deemed and considered legitimate.

(c) Any child conceived following artificial insemination of a married woman with the consent of her husband shall be treated as their child for all purposes of intestate succession. Consent of the husband is presumed unless the contrary is shown by clear and convincing evidence.

(d) An illegitimate child or his or her descendants may inherit real or personal property in the same manner as a legitimate child from the child’s mother or her blood kindred. The child may inherit real or personal property from his or her father or from his or her father’s blood kindred provided that at least one (1) of the following conditions is satisfied and an action is commenced within one hundred eighty (180) days of the death of the father. . .

Ark. Code Ann. § 28-9-209(a)-(d).

Arkansas intestate succession law provides that a child can inherit from a mother as either a legitimate or an illegitimate child. See Ark. Code Ann. § 28-9-209(d). The evidence provided does not indicate whether the NH, who is Claimant’s biological and birth mother, and the Claimant’s biological father, were married at the time of Claimant’s birth. However, even if the Claimant were considered to be an illegitimate child, he would still be able to inherit from the NH because Arkansas law provides that an illegitimate child may inherit property in the same manner as a legitimate child from the child’s mother. See Ark. Code Ann. 29-9-209(d).

Here, you advised that the Claimant was born to the NH in Tennessee and that the Claimant’s EAB Numident record lists the NH as the Claimant’s biological and birth mother. See In re Adoption of A.F.C., 491 S.W.3d 316, 321-322 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2014) (“we have determined that the ‘mother’ to be entered on the certificate of live birth required by Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-3-301 is the same as that used in preparing the standard certificate, i.e., the woman who delivers the child”); Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 68-3-202 (vital records certificate shall be prima facie evidence of the facts stated in the certificate), 68-3-301 (a certificate of birth for each live birth that occurs in the State shall be filed with the office of vital records); see also Ark. Code Ann. § 9-27-303(40) (defining “parent” as a biological mother, adoptive parent, or a man to whom biological mother was married at the time of conception or birth or who has signed an acknowledgment of paternity or who has been found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be the child’s biological father), § 20-18-401(e) (“For the purposes of birth registration, the mother is deemed to be the woman who gives birth to the child, unless otherwise provided by state law or determined by a court of competent jurisdiction prior to the filing of the birth certificate.”). Accordingly, as the NH is the Claimant’s biological and birth mother, we believe Arkansas courts would find that the Claimant has the right to inherit from the NH under Arkansas intestate succession law. See Ark. Code Ann. § 28-9-209(d).

The evidence also indicates that the NH’s parent-child relationship was terminated by a State court order. Neither the Claimant nor the field office was able to obtain a copy of the order terminating the NH’s parental rights. However, the Claimant and the NH both confirmed that her parental rights to the Claimant were terminated by an Arkansas court in 2005 (when the Claimant was around 8 years old). We consider next the primary issue posed – the impact of this termination of the parent-child relationship upon the child’s right to inherit from the NH, his biological and birth mother, under Arkansas law. See POMS GN 00306.012C.3 (instructing the agency generally presumes that a child would inherit as the NH’s child from the child’s birth mother, but to not presume a child may inherit from the NH when evidence indicates that the NH is the birth mother, but may not be the legal parent under the applicable State’s intestacy laws, such as if the NH’s parental rights have been terminated), GN 00306.010C (instructions to obtain a legal opinion to determine whether the termination of a NH’s parental rights also terminates the child’s right to inherit from the NH under State law).

2. Termination of the Parent-Child Relationship and the Child’s Right to Inherit from the Parent

Arkansas statutes in the Juvenile Code and the Revised Uniform Adoption Act provide a court jurisdiction to terminate parental rights in two situations. The first applies only to the Arkansas Department of Human Services or a court-appointed attorney ad litem when the department is attempting to clear a juvenile for permanent placement. See Ark. Code Ann. §§ 9-27-306(a)(1)(E), 9-27-341. The second provides that parental rights may be relinquished and the relationship of parent and child terminated in or prior to an adoption proceeding. See Ark. Code Ann. § 9-9-220. This second statute is not applicable here because the NH stated that Claimant was not adopted after her parental rights were terminated. In addition, the evidence you provided indicates that the NH’s parental rights were terminated when the Claimant was placed in custody with Arkansas Division of Children and Family Services. Thus, we consider the statutory law of the Juvenile Code relevant to the first situation for termination of parental rights. See Ark. Code Ann. § 9-27-341.

There is a heavy burden placed upon the party seeking to terminate the parent child relationship. Fox v. Arkansas Department of Human Services, 448 S.W.3d 735, 736 (Ark. Ct. App. 2014). Termination of parental rights is an extreme remedy and in derogation of the natural rights of the parents. Stockstill v. Arkansas Department of Human Services, 439 S.W.3d 95, 99-100 (Ark. Ct. App. 2014). Parental rights, however, will not be enforced to the detriment or destruction of the health and well-being of the child. Fox, 448 S.W.3d at 736. The circuit court may consider a petition to terminate parental rights if it finds that there is an appropriate permanency-placement plan for the juvenile. See Ark. Code Ann. § 9-27-341(b)(1). This section does not require a permanency-planning hearing as a prerequisite to consideration of a termination petition. Id. An order terminating parental rights must be based on the court’s finding by clear and convincing evidence that the termination is in the best interest of the juvenile, taking into consideration: (1) the likelihood that the juvenile will be adopted if the termination petition is granted and (2) the potential harm, specifically addressing the effect on the health and safety of the child, caused by returning the child to the custody of the parent. See Ark. Code Ann. § 9-27-341(b)(3)(A). The court must also find by clear and convincing evidence the existence of a statutory ground for termination. See Ark. Code Ann. § 9-27-341(b)(3)(B).

With regard to all rights and duties impacted by the termination of the parent-child relationship, Arkansas law states:

An order terminating the relationship between parent and juvenile divests the parent and juvenile of all legal rights, powers, and obligations with respect to each other, including the right to withhold consent to adoption, except the right of the juvenile to inherit from the parent, that is terminated only by a final order of adoption.

Ark. Code Ann. § 9-27-341(c)(1)(A) (emphasis added); see also Suster v. Arkansas Dept. of Human Services, 858 S.W.2d 122, 125 (Ark. 1993) (noting that an order terminating the parental rights divests the parent and juvenile of all legal rights except the right to inherit from the parent, which is only terminated by final order of adoption). Thus, Arkansas statutory law expressly provides that a child retains the right to inherit from a parent following a court order terminating the parent-child relationship and that this right to inherit is terminated only by a final order of adoption.

As noted above, the NH stated that Claimant was not adopted after her parental rights were terminated. Therefore, although we do not have a copy of the Arkansas court order terminating the parent-child relationship, under Arkansas law, the Claimant retained the right to inherit from the NH in the absence of any final order of adoption. As there is no adoption, an Arkansas court order terminating the NH’s parental rights as to the Claimant does not impact the Claimant’s right to inherit from the NH (the Claimant’s biological and birth mother) under Arkansas law. We believe Arkansas courts would find that the Claimant has the right to inherit from the NH under Arkansas intestate succession law. See Ark. Code Ann. § 9-27-341(c)(1). Consequently, there is legal support for the agency to find that the Claimant is the NH’s child for purposes of his application for disabled adult child’s benefits on the NH’s record.