20 CFR § 725.214 - Determination of relationship; surviving spouse.
---identifier: "/us/cfr/t20/s725.214"source: "ecfr"legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"title: "20 CFR § 725.214 - Determination of relationship; surviving spouse."title_number: 20title_name: "Employees' Benefits"section_number: "725.214"section_name: "Determination of relationship; surviving spouse."chapter_name: "OFFICE OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION PROGRAMS, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR"subchapter_number: "B"subchapter_name: "FEDERAL COAL MINE HEALTH AND SAFETY ACT OF 1969, AS AMENDED"part_number: "725"part_name: "CLAIMS FOR BENEFITS UNDER PART C OF TITLE IV OF THE FEDERAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ACT, AS AMENDED"positive_law: falsecurrency: "2026-03-24"last_updated: "2026-03-24"format_version: "1.1.0"generator: "[email protected]"authority: "5 U.S.C. 301; 28 U.S.C. 2461 note (Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990); Pub. L. 114-74 at sec. 701; Reorganization Plan No. 6 of 1950, 15 FR 3174; 30 U.S.C. 901 902(f), 921, 932, 936; 33 U.S.C. 901 42 U.S.C. 405; Secretary's Order 10-2009, 74 FR 58834."regulatory_source: "65 FR 80054, Dec. 20, 2000, unless otherwise noted."cfr_part: "725"---
Identifier
/us/cfr/t20/s725.214
Currency
2026-03-24
Positive Law
No
Updated
2026-03-24
Chapter
Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, Department of Labor
Authority
5 U.S.C. 301; 28 U.S.C. 2461 note (Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990); Pub. L. 114-74 at sec. 701; Reorganization Plan No. 6 of 1950, 15 FR 3174; 30 U.S.C. 901 902(f), 921, 932... 5 U.S.C. 301; 28 U.S.C. 2461 note (Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990); Pub. L. 114-74 at sec. 701; Reorganization Plan No. 6 of 1950, 15 FR 3174; 30 U.S.C. 901 902(f), 921, 932, 936; 33 U.S.C. 901 42 U.S.C. 405; Secretary's Order 10-2009, 74 FR 58834.
# 725.214 Determination of relationship; surviving spouse.An individual shall be considered to be the surviving spouse of a miner if:(a) The courts of the State in which the miner was domiciled (see § 725.231) at the time of his or her death would find that the individual and the miner were validly married; or(b) The courts of the State in which the miner was domiciled (see § 725.231) at the time of the miner's death would find that the individual was the miner's surviving spouse; or(c) Under State law, such individual would have the right of the spouse to share in the miner's intestate personal property; or(d) Such individual went through a marriage ceremony with the miner, resulting in a purported marriage between them which, but for a legal impediment (see § 725.230), would have been a valid marriage, unless such individual entered into the purported marriage with knowledge that it was not a valid marriage, or if such individual and the miner were not living in the same household at the time of the miner's death.