[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 20, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 20CFR222.32]

[Page 437-439]
 
                      TITLE 20--EMPLOYEES' BENEFITS
 
                  CHAPTER II--RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD
 
PART 222_FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS--Table of Contents
 
                     Subpart D_Relationship as Child
 
Sec.  222.32  Relationship as a natural child.

    A claimant will be considered the natural child of the employee for 
both annuity and lump-sum payment purposes if one of the following sets 
of conditions is met:
    (a) State inheritance law. Under relevant state inheritance law, the 
claimant could inherit a share of the employee's personal estate as the 
employee's natural child if the employee were to die without leaving a 
will as described in paragraph (e) of this section;
    (b) Natural child. The claimant is the employee's natural son or 
daughter, and the employee and the claimant's mother or father went 
through a marriage ceremony which would have been valid except for a 
legal impediment;
    (c) By order of law. The claimant's natural mother or father has not 
married the employee, but--
    (1) The employee has acknowledged in writing that the claimant is 
his or her son or daughter; or

[[Page 438]]

    (2) A court has decreed that the employee is the mother or father of 
the claimant; or
    (3) A court has ordered the employee to contribute to the claimant's 
support because the claimant is the employee's son or daughter; and,
    (4) Such acknowledgment, court decree, or court order was made not 
less than one year before the employee became entitled to an annuity, or 
in the case of a disability annuitant prior to his or her most recent 
period of disability, or in case the employee is deceased, prior to his 
or her death. The written acknowledgment, court decree, or court order 
will be considered to have occurred on the first day of the month in 
which it actually occurred.
    (d) Other evidence of relationship. The claimant's natural mother or 
father has not married the employee, but--
    (1) The claimant has submitted evidence acceptable in the judgment 
of the Board, other than that discussed in paragraph (c) of this 
section, that the employee is his or her natural mother or father; and
    (2) The employee was living with the claimant or contributing to the 
claimant's support, as discussed in Sec. Sec.  222.58 and 222.42 of this 
part, when--
    (i) The spouse applied for an annuity based on having the employee's 
child in care; or
    (ii) The employee's annuity could have been increased under the 
social security overall minimum provision; or
    (iii) The employee died, if the claimant is applying for a child's 
annuity or lump-sum payment.
    (e) Use of state laws--(1) General. To determine whether a claimant 
is the natural child of the employee, the state inheritance laws 
regarding whether the claimant could inherit a child's share of the 
employee's personal property if he or she were to die intestate will 
apply. If such laws would permit the claimant to inherit the employee's 
personal property, the claimant will be considered the child of the 
employee. The state inheritance laws where the employee was domiciled 
when he or she died will apply. If the employee's domicile was not in 
one of the 50 states, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin 
slands, Guam, American Samoa, or the Northern Mariana Islands, the laws 
of the District of Columbia will apply.
    (2) Standards. The Board will not apply any state inheritance law 
requirement that an action to establish paternity must have been 
commenced within a specific time period, measured from the employee's 
death or the child's birth, or that an action to establish paternity 
must have been commenced or completed before the employee's death. If 
state laws on inheritance require a court to determine paternity, the 
Board will not require such a determination, but the Board will decide 
paternity using the standard of proof that the state court would apply 
as the basis for making such a determination.
    (3) Employee is living. If the employee is living, the Board will 
apply the state law where the employee is domiciled which was in effect 
when the annuity may first be increased under the social security 
overall minimum (see part 229 of this chapter). If under a version of 
state law in effect at that time, a person does not qualify as a child 
of the employee, the Board will look to all versions of state law in 
effect from when the employee's annuity may first have been increased 
until the Board makes a final decision, and will apply the version of 
state law most favorable to the employee.
    (4) Employee is deceased. The Board will apply the state law where 
the employee was domiciled when he or she died. The Board will apply the 
version of state law in effect at the time of the final decision on the 
application for benefits. If under that version of state law the 
claimant does not qualify as the child of the employee, the Board will 
apply the state law in effect when the employee died, or any version of 
state law in effect from the month of potential entitlement to benefits 
until a final determination on the application. The Board will apply the 
version most beneficial to the claimant. The following rules determine 
the law in effect as of the employee's death:
    (i) Any law enacted after the employee's death, if that law would 
have retroactive application to the employee's date of death, will 
apply; or

[[Page 439]]

    (ii) Any law that supersedes a law declared unconstitutional, that 
was considered constitutional on the employee's date of death, will 
apply.

[65 FR 20726, Apr. 18, 2000]