Sarah Brown v. Carolyn Colvin

MEMORANDUM

Sarah W. Brown appeals pro se the district court’s judgment affirming the Commissioner of Social Security’s denial of her application for spouse’s retirement insurance benefits under Title II of the Social Security Act. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We review de novo, Molina v. Astrue, 674 F.3d 1104, 1110 (9th Cir. 2012), and we affirm.

The wife of an individual entitled to old-age insurance benefits is herself entitled to a spouse’s insurance benefits if she has attained age 62 and is not entitled to old-age benefits on her own account. 42 U.S.C. § 402 (b)(1); 20 C.F.R. § 404.330 . An applicant is the wife of the insured “if the courts of the State in which such insured individual is domiciled at the time such applicant files an application ... would find that such applicant and such insured individual were validly married at the time such applicant files such application.” 42 U.S.C. § 416 (h)(l)(A)(i).

Brown contends that due to her mental incompetency, a divorce decree issued in the District of Columbia in 1973 is invalid, and therefore she is still married to the insured individual on whose account she applied for a spouse’s benefit in 2007.…