Who's Your Daddy?

The California Appellate Report blog reports on a surprising decision from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. In 2004 the 9th Circuit ruled in Gillett-Netting v. Barnhart, 371 F.3d 593 that a child conceived using artificial insemination after the death of the father could be considered the child of the decedent for Social Security purposes. However, the Court has just decided in Vernoff v. Astrue that another child conceived in a similar manner after the death of the father could not be considered the child of the decedent. There are differences in the facts between the two cases, but not enough that I would have expected this.