''Astrue v. Capato'', 566 U.S. 541 (2012), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that children conceived after a parent's death are not entitled to Social Security Survivors benefits if the laws in the state that the parent's will was signed in forbid it. The case was a unanimous decision.

Background

In 1999, Karen Capato's husband, Robert Capato, was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. Out of fear that he would become sterile due to the chemotherapy, Robert started to deposit sperm in a sperm bank in 2001. He began to recover and discovered that he was not left infertile by the cancer treatments. This led to the Capatos conceiving a son. Robert's condition started to worsen in 2002 and he died of cancer. Eighteen months after her husband's death, in 2003, Capato gave birth to twins. They were conceived after Robert's death using the sperm deposited in the sperm bank via ''in vitro'' fertilization. This was according to the Capatos' plan, so their son could have siblings. She applied for

Social Security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

Survivors Benefits based on her husband's earnings during his lifetime. Her claim was rejected by the

Social Security Administration The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that administers Social Security, a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability and survivor benefits. To qualify ...

(SSA).

Litigation history

The administrative Judge for the Social Security Administration ruled that the place of death of Robert Capato was Florida. Under Florida law children can not inherit from a parent if they were conceived after that parent's death. The Social Security Administration has used state inheritance laws as the deciding factor if a person was a "child" under the Social Security Act and therefore eligible for survivors benefits since the 1940s. Capato appealed the Social Security Administration's decision and the case moved to the

US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts for the following districts: * District of Delaware * District of New Jersey * Ea ...

in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The appeals court reversed the Social Security Administration's decision.

Before the Court

Are children conceived by ''in vitro'' fertilization after their biological father's death protected under Title II of the Social Security Act?

Decision

In a unanimous 9–0 decision, Justice Ginsburg wrote the majority decision for the Supreme Court in favor of Astrue, stated that the children conceived after the death of their father were not entitled to Social Security benefits.

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

* {{caselaw source , case = ''Astrue v. Capato'', {{Ussc, 566, 541, 2012, el=no , courtlistener =https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/800567/astrue-v-capato/ , googlescholar = https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6577565239241615023 , justia =https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/566/541/ , oyez =https://www.oyez.org/cases/2011/11-159 , other_source1 = Supreme Court (slip opinion) , other_url1 =https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-159.pdf United States Supreme Court cases 2012 in United States case law Social Security lawsuits United States Supreme Court cases of the Roberts Court