---
title: "List the SSI spouse tests for a member-of-a-couple question"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/practice/social-security-and-veterans-entitlements/advise-on-a-member-of-a-couple-decision/united-states"
type: "task_jurisdiction_version"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "A56-P20261018-3-US"
practice_area: "Social Security & Veterans' Entitlements"
tier: "red"
lawyer_review: "required"
jurisdictions: ["US"]
last_reviewed: "2026-10-22"
---

# List the SSI spouse tests for a member-of-a-couple question

> List the spouse tests in 20 C.F.R. § 416.1806 against the facts the lawyer supplies, and leave the conclusion blank. Do not write the advice.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/practice/social-security-and-veterans-entitlements/advise-on-a-member-of-a-couple-decision/united-states  
Last reviewed: 2026-10-22

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Practice area | [Social Security & Veterans' Entitlements](https://ailawframework.com/practice/social-security-and-veterans-entitlements.md) |
| Human involvement | Red: Lawyer writes; AI may check, clarify or collect data |
| How AI is used | List the spouse tests in 20 C.F.R. § 416.1806 against the facts the lawyer supplies, and leave the conclusion blank. Do not write the advice. |
| What the lawyer must review | 20 C.F.R. § 416.1806 treats someone as your spouse, and treats you as married, for SSI if one of three tests is met. You are legally married under the laws of the State where your permanent home and that person's permanent home is, or was when you lived together. Or the Social Security Administration has decided that either of you is entitled to husband's or wife's Social Security insurance benefits as the spouse of the other, and that decision does not affect SSI benefits for any month before the decision. Or you and an unrelated person of the opposite sex live together in the same household at or after the time you apply for SSI, and you both lead people to believe that you are husband and wife. If more than one person would qualify, the person you are presently living with is your spouse for SSI. The opened page carries one Federal Register line, 60 FR 16376, 30 March 1995. You confirm the text in force before you use the third test. This is title XVI. It is not a title II wife, husband, widow, or widower decision. Section 404.345 looks to the law of the State where the insured had a permanent home when you applied for wife's or husband's benefits, or, for a widow or widower, when the insured died. If that home was not in one of the 50 States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, or American Samoa, the Administration looks to the District of Columbia. The relationship is met if you were validly married under State law at the application, or at the death if you claim widow's, widower's, mother's, or father's benefits, or if under State law you could inherit a wife's, husband's, widow's, or widower's share of the insured's personal property if the insured died without a will. Permanent home is defined in § 404.303, which was not opened. You write the advice. The tool writes none of it. |
| Written for | United States |
| Applies to | [Advise on a member of a couple decision](https://ailawframework.com/practice/social-security-and-veterans-entitlements/advise-on-a-member-of-a-couple-decision.md) |

## Checking plan

- What the AI does: List the spouse tests in 20 C.F.R. § 416.1806 against the facts the lawyer supplies, and leave the conclusion blank. Do not write the advice.
- Basis: Checked against the linked sources on 22 October 2026. Confirm the current instrument before reliance.

## Notes

- The third SSI test on the opened page is limited to an unrelated person of the opposite sex, and the page's only Federal Register line is 30 March 1995. Confirm the current text before using that test.
- A title II spouse benefit and an SSI marriage finding are different questions. Do not answer one with the other.
- No veterans' couple rule was opened. Do not use this list for a veterans' payment.

## Sources

- [20 C.F.R. § 416.1806 (whether you are married and who is your spouse)](https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/cfr20/416/416-1806.htm) (checked 2026-10-22)
- [20 C.F.R. § 404.345 (relationship as wife, husband, widow, or widower under State law)](https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/cfr20/404/404-0345.htm) (checked 2026-10-22)

## Forms and precedents for this task

| Form or precedent | Kind | AI level | Summary |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Member of a couple: factors worksheet](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/social-security-and-veterans-entitlements/member-of-a-couple-factors-worksheet.md) | Checklist | Yellow | A worksheet of the five factors in Social Security Guide topic 2.2.5.30, used to gather documents before anyone forms an opinion about whether two people are a couple. |

Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*