Paternity and children’s Social Security benefits
Children can often receive Social Security benefits if a parent is disabled or deceased. I have previously written about these kind of Social Security auxiliary and survivors benefits. However, there are times when proving paternity becomes an issue. Here are a couple of situations where this comes up:
Parents separate and, the non-custodial father becomes disabled (potential auxiliary benefits based on a disabled parent).
Common law marriages with a disabled husband or wife splitting with the father denying paternity (potential auxiliary benefits based on a disabled parent).
Father dies (potential survivors benefits based on a deceased parent) but Social Security denies the claim because there is not enough evidence proving paternity.
Note: most of the examples deal with paternity. However, the same laws apply if there is a question of who the mother is.
Also, I am focusing on resolving paternity without a court ordered DNA test or exhumation.
Social Security has regulations describing when a child is a “natural child” of the parent (full text below). Note: for adopted children, check out this article.
According to Social Security’s regulations, a child may be eligible to receive benefits from the insured if:
