Eligibility for an Annuity and Family Relationships

The Railroad Retirement Board amends its regulations to remove facially unlawful provisions that define when the spouse, divorced spouse, surviving divorced spouse, or remarried widow(er) of a railroad employee may receive an annuity under the Railroad Retirement Act for having the employee's minor child in care. As currently written, the regulations treat male spouses less favorably than female spouses by terminating annuity entitlement when the child turns age 16 instead of age 18 as for female spouses. If enforced, this disparity would violate the right to equal protection secured by the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.