DIGEST OF LAWS, DECISIONS, RULINGS, ORDERS, ETC. ABANDONMENT. A. Section 4706, Revised Statutes. If any person has died, or shall hereafter die, leaving a widow entitled to a pension by reason of his death, and a child or children under sixteen years of age by such widow, and it shall be duly certified under seal, by any court having probate jurisdiction, that satisfactory evidence has been produced before such court, upon due notice to the widow, that she has abandoned the care of such child or children, or that she is an unsuitable person, by reason of immoral conduct, to have the custody of the same, on presentation of satisfactory evidence thereof to the Commissioner of Pensions, no pension shall be allowed to such widow until such child or children shall have attained the age of sixteen years, any provisions of law to the contrary notwithstanding, and the said child or children shall be pensioned in the same manner, and from the same date, as if no widow had survived such person, and such pension shall be paid to the guardian of such child or children; but if in any case payment of pension shall have been made to the widow, the pension to the child or children shall commence from the date to which her pension has been paid. Sec. 12, 3 March, 1873; sec. 11, 6 June, 1866; sec. 8, 27 July, 1868. DECISIONS OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. 1. A widow who abandons her minor child or children forfeits her title to pension. Minors of J. Conradt. App. No. 95,810. O. H. Browning, Secretary. Sept. 17, 1867. 2. Where a soldier left a minor child by a former wife who was allowed pension from the date of his death to terminate when said child became sixteen years of age, and where the second wife of said soldier, who had abandoned said minor child, and of whose existence the office was ignorant until May 20, 1872, when she applied for pension to commence from the date the minor became sixteen years of age: Held, that the widow's right accrued upon the date of the soldier's death, but as she did not apply within five years from that date her pension was properly made 15 ARANDOMENT Continued.": to commence from the date it was filed, rather than from the date the minor child became sixteen years of age. Catharine Elbert. App. No. 160,958. C. Delano, Secretary. Sept. 24, 1873. Vol. 3, p. 80. RULING OF THE COMMISSIONER OF PENSIONS. RULING NO. 1. December 3, 1874. When a widow has been deprived of her pension on account of abandonment of her children by the soldier, or unfitness to have custody of the same, any increase of pension which accrued before the supension of the original pension can be paid to the widow after the children attain the age of sixteen years. It cannot be paid before that date. ABSTRACTS. DECISION OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. Abstracts furnished to attorneys should exclude record, medical, and confidential evidence. Isaac Miller. App. No. 165,878. C. Delano, Secretary. Sept. 19, 1874. Vol. 3, p. 311. ACCIDENTS. See LINE OF DUTY, par. 9. ACCIDENTAL GUNSHOT WOUNDS. See LINE OF DUTY, par. 9. ACCRUED PENSION. Section 4718, Revised Statutes. If any pensioner has died, or shall hereafter die, or if any person entitled to a pension, having an application therefor pending, has died or shall hereafter die, his widow, or if there is no widow, the child or children of such person under the age of sixteen years shall be entitled to receive the accrued pension to the date of the death of such person. Such accrued pension shall not be considered as a part of the assets of the estate of deceased, nor liable to be applied to the payment of the debts of said estate in any case whatever, but shall inure to the sole and exclusive benefit of the widow or children; and if no widow or child survive, no payment whatsoever of the accrued pension shall be made or allowed, except so much as may be necessary to reimburse the person who bore the expenses of the last sickness and burial of the decedent, in cases where he did not leave sufficient assets to meet such expenses. Sec. 25, 3 March, 1873; sec. 10, 4 July, 1864; sec. 6, 6 June, 1866; sec. 4, 25 July, 1866; sec. 9, 27 July, 1868; sec. 2, 2 March, 1829; secs. 1, 2, 3, 19 June, 1840; also, see note to each of the last twonamed acts in Mayo and Moulton. ACCRUED PENSION-Continued. DECISIONS OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. 1. On death of soldier after completion of his claim for invalid pension, widow entitled to accrued pension. Instructions: Cox, J. D., Secretary. July 12, 1869. Vol. 2, p. 202. 2. Does not constitute a part of the assets of a deceased pensioner. Johnson, Ann B. No. 652. Cox, J. D., Secretary. Dec. 18, 1869. Vol. 2, p. 142. 3. The words "pensioner" and "person" in section 4718, Revised Statutes, include widows, pensioners. Kilpatrick, Sarah. Ctf. No. 6,591. Chandler, Z., Secretary. August 12, 1876. Vol. 4, p. 370. 4. Widow entitled to, where soldier died during the pendency of his claim, prior to passage of the act of January 25, 1879, under acts of January 25 and March 3, 1879, and section 4718. Russell, Amelia D. App. No. 207,304. Schurz, C., Secretary. April 25, 1879. Vol. 6, p. 312. 5. Heirs not entitled to, other than as specified in section 4718, Revised Statutes. Lemaster, George, heirs of, (1812). Schurz, C., Secretary. May, 1, 1879. Vol. 6, p. 320. 6. Soldier died while his claim for pension was pending, leaving a widow and a daughter under sixteen years of age. After the child attained the age of sixteen years the mother died, and still later the pension was allowed and certificate therefor was issued. Held, that the pension which had accrued up to the date of the death of the father should be paid to the daughter. Thierry, Francis. App. No. - MacVeagh, Wayne, Attorney-General. August 12, 1881. Vol. 8, p. 386. 7. The claimant, a widow, was pensioned from the date of her husband's death, who had never applied for pension during his lifetime. She claimed that, "because her husband was insane and unable to make an application, her pension should commence from the date of his discharge." This claim was rejected for the reason that the soldier had never applied for pension. In affirming this action, it was decided that "the pension law exempts the claims of insane persons from any limitation based upon the time of filing. There is, however, no authority for the allowance of the claim of such person in the absence of a properly-executed application made by a guardian. The only law bearing upon the case is contained in section 4718 of the Revised Statutes. That section provides that when an invalid dies, having an application pending, the widow shall be entitled to receive the pension which accrued prior to his death. From the requirement that there must be a pending claim of the invalid in order to give his widow a right to the pension to which his disability entitled him, there is no exception in any case whatever. Chrich, May. Ct. No. 196,153. Teller, H. M., Secretary. July 22, 1882. Vol. 9, p. 324. ACCRUED PENSION-Continued. RULINGS OF THE COMMISSIONER OF PENSIONS. RULING NO. 30. January, 12, 1877. Since the promulgation of ruling defining the application of the words "any pensioner" * or "any person entitled to a pension," in section 4718, Revised Statutes, the subject-matter of said ruling has been brougnt to the attention of the Attorney-General, who has decided that the operation of said section should not be restricted to invalid claimants and pensioners. See Opinions of the Attorneys-General. Vol. 15, p. 591. RULING NO. 148. November 18, 1885. The provisions of section 4718, Revised Statutes, govern in every case in which the direct beneficiary under a pension certificate has deceased. Alleged wrong and neglect upon the part of the Pension Office or pension agencies do not give rise to title not otherwise conferred by law. The Government is not responsible for the torts or laches of the pension agents. Malitty Rose. Ctf. No. 3, 259. (Old war.) ADDITIONAL PAYMASTERS. See CIVILIANS IN SERVICE OF A QUASI-MILITARY CHARACTER, par. 1. ADMINISTRATORS. See ARREARS, par. 2, and ACCRUED PENSION, (Ruling, 148). ADULTEROUS COHABITATION. Act of August 7, 1882. SEC. 2. That marriages, except such as are mentioned in section fortyseven hundred and five of the Revised Statutes shall be proven in pension cases to be legal marriages according to the law of the place where the parties resided at the time of marriage or at the time when the right to pension accrued; and the open and notorious adulterous cohabitation of a widow who is a pensioner shall operate to terminate her pension from the commencement of such cohabitation. DECISIONS OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. 1. Upon a careful consideration of the act of August 7, 1882, it is believed that it was not intended that it should be applied to any other pensioners or applicants for pension than those who claim as widows of soldiers. McAlister, Eliza, mother of Royal Flint, No. 253,153. Teller, H. M., Secretary. July 19, 1883. |