Sandy is a 74 year-old widow in East Texas who struggled to maintain her household after her husband passed away. Although she was with her common law husband for 29 years, and they had children together, they never formally married. “I was never married before him, and I have never even dated anyone else,” said Sandy.
Sandy applied for legal assistance with LSLA to help her appeal a Social Security Administration (SSA) decision. She had been denied widow’s benefits from SSA because she couldn’t prove she was in a common law marriage. LSLA Staff Attorney, Julie Flowers, represented her.
Flowers asked Sandy if she could gather documents like the deed to the home they shared and copies of their tax filings together. Flowers also obtained testimony from Sandy’s husband’s brother. He affirmed she was his brother’s wife, stating that he thinks of her as his sister-in-law and still invites her to their family reunions.
Flowers presented the court with their tax and property records, and testimonies, and all were accepted into evidence. Flowers and Sandy persevered and received a favorable decision from the Administrative Law Judge. Sandy was approved for widow’s benefits and retroactive benefits from the date of her common law husband’s death. With this much needed help, she can now sleep with a little more ease. “Sandy has had a great attitude the whole time and was a pleasure throughout the entire representation,” said Flowers.
*Names have been changed to protect the identity of the client.
Lone Star Legal Aid (LSLA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit law firm focused on advocacy for low-income and underserved populations by providing free legal education, advice, and representation. LSLA serves millions of people at 125% of federal poverty guidelines, who live in 72 counties in the eastern and Gulf Coast regions of Texas, and 4 counties in Southwest Arkansas. LSLA focuses its resources on maintaining, enhancing, and protecting income and economic stability; preserving housing; improving outcomes for children; establishing and sustaining family safety, stability, health, and wellbeing; and assisting populations with special vulnerabilities, like those with disabilities, the aging, survivors of crime and disasters, the unemployed and underemployed, the unhoused, those with limited English language skills, and the LGBTQIA+ community. To learn more about Lone Star Legal Aid, visit our website at www.LoneStarLegal.org.
Media contact: media@lonestarlegal.org
