If you are filing for monthly railroad retirement benefits or Medicare as the wife, husband, divorced wife or husband, widow, widower, remarried widow or widower, or surviving divorced wife or husband of a former railroad employee, you must furnish evidence of your marriage to the employee. If you are claiming benefits as a remarried widow or widower, you may have to furnish proof of your remarriage. A person filing as a divorced spouse or surviving divorced spouse must submit proof that the marriage to the employee lasted at least ten consecutive years before the date of the final divorce decree.
| Best Proofs of a Ceremonial Marriage |
Where to Secure |
| The original certificate of marriage |
Personal records |
| A copy of a public record of the marriage certified by the custodian of the record |
- Clerk of the Court in the city or county where marriage license was obtained; or
- Bureau of Vital Statistics of the state in which you were married
|
| A copy of a religious record of the marriage certified by the custodian of the record |
Church where marriage took place |
NOTE: A marriage license is not an acceptable proof of marriage. If none of the proofs listed above can be found or if no marriage ceremony took place, contact the nearest field office of the RRB. The people there will be glad to assist you.
Proof of Termination of a Remarriage
If you are claiming benefits as the divorced spouse and have remarried since your divorce from the employee, you must furnish proof that the later marriage or marriages have terminated.
If you are claiming benefits as the remarried widow/widower, or surviving divorced spouse, you must furnish proof that the later marriage or marriages have terminated, unless you remarried after attainment of age 60 or after attainment of age 50 if previously eligible for a disabled widow(er)'s or surviving divorced spouses annuity before the marriage occurred.
Refer to Part 5 for a discussion of acceptable proofs of divorce or annulment and Part 7 for a discussion of acceptable proofs of death.