SCHAFER v. ASTRUE

No. 10-1500.

641 F.3d 49 (2011)

Janice SCHAFER, Guardian Ad Litem for WMS, infant, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Michael J. ASTRUE, Defendant-Appellee.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Decided: April 12, 2011.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

ARGUED: Kelsi Brown Corkran , United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for Appellee. ON BRIEF: George L. Fitzgerald , Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellant. Tony West , Assistant Attorney General, William Kanter , United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.; Anne M. Tompkins , United States Attorney, Charlotte, North Carolina; David Black , General Counsel, Karen Aviles , General Attorney, Social Security Administration, Baltimore, Maryland, for Appellee.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge WILKINSON wrote the majority opinion, in which Judge AGEE joined. Judge DAVIS wrote a dissenting opinion.


OPINION

WILKINSON, Circuit Judge:

Don and Janice Schafer married in 1992. Don died the next year. With the help of in vitro fertilization, however, Janice gave birth to W.M.S., Don Schafer's biological child, a number of years later. Janice Schafer then applied on W.M.S.'s behalf for survivorship benefits under the Social Security Act. See 42 U.S.C. § 402(d) et seq.

The Social Security Administration rejected W.M.S.'s claim. Because...

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