Betty Lou Martin v. Patricia Roberts Harris, Secretary of Health and Human Services

WILLIAM E. DOYLE, Circuit Judge.

The case before us is an appeal from a final order of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, which order denied appellant widow’s disability benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act, more specifically 42 U.S.C. § 416(h)(1)(B). The issue in this case is whether, under the statutes as revised, the so-called deemed widow statute, plaintiff-appellant is entitled to receive benefits from the account of Mr. Martin, deceased, notwithstanding that there was not a valid marriage between them. The evidence shows that there was an…