Social Security benefits? Not for this daughter.
Social Security benefits from deceased dad won't go to daughter conceived after his death through artificial insemination. Appeals court rules that she didn't meet Social Security eligibility requirements.
A sign for the Social Security Administration is seen in Los Angeles last month. A daughter born after her father's death –and conceived through artificial insemination – is not eligible to receive his death benefits, a federal court rules.
Matt Sayles/AP/File
DES MOINES, Iowa
A federal appeals court has ruled that an Iowa girl conceived through artificial insemination after her father's death cannot receive his Social Security benefits.
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The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision reversed a district court ruling that granted benefits to the girl, who is now 8. The appeals court ruled Monday that she did not meet eligibility requirements under Iowa law.
An outdated Iowa law limited inheritance rights to a child who had a relationship with a person at the time of that person's death. A new state law that took effect in May grants inheritance rights to children conceived posthumously, but is not retroactive.
Bruce Beeler died of leukemia in 2001, and his wife Patti Beeler was later artificially inseminated with sperm the couple had decided to preserve.
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