Lucille Kasparek, Special Administrator of Maude C. Taylor v. John W. Gardner, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare

This is an appeal from a summary judgment for the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare in a civil action under the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 405 (g), to review a decision of the Appeals Council of the Social Security Administration holding that the estate of Maude C. Taylor was not entitled to widow’s insurance benefits under 42 U.S.C. § 402 (e). We affirm.

The Appeals Council held that there was no basis for allowing the claim under the applicable statutory and regulatory provisions except by reopening a prior administrative determination rejecting Mrs. Taylor’s claim, and that the prior determination could not be reopened.

I

Since the statutory provisions and administrative regulations applicable during the relevant time periods have been amended or superseded in material respects, no useful purpose would be served by a detailed analysis of their now obsolete texts. It is enough to say that we have examined them with care in light of the administrative record and are entirely satisfied that the district court properly sustained the Appeals ' Council’s decision that, if reopening were barred, the claim of Mrs. Taylor’s estate must be denied on the ground that she…