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Wills, Trusts & Estates Keyed to Bonfield
Woodward v. Commissioner of Social Security
Citation:
760 N.E.2d 257 (Mass. 2002)Facts
In 1993, after being diagnosed with leukemia, Warren Woodward underwent treatment that left him sterile. Before his death, the couple arranged for sperm banking. He died in October 1993, and in 1995, his wife, Lauren Woodward, gave birth to twins through artificial insemination using his preserved semen. In January 1996, Lauren applied for Social Security survivor benefits, but the Social Security Administration denied her claims, stating she had not proven the twins were her husband’s children under the law. In response, she filed a complaint in Probate and Family Court to have her late husband listed as the father on the twins’ birth certificates.
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