Also known as: welfare & subsistence · public assistance · minimum living standard
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A category of public assistance programs that supply cash or in-kind benefits to persons unable to meet basic living needs. Courts may override private agreements that eliminate support when enforcement would render a party eligible for such programs at separation or dissolution.
Wren Wallace and Wendy Wu signed a premarital agreement eliminating spousal support. After twelve years of marriage Wendy filed for divorce. Wren's savings were depleted and he faced eviction with no income. The court ordered Wendy to pay support in an amount sufficient to keep Wren off cash public assistance.
Willow Walker received disability benefits that the agency later terminated after an administrative review. She challenged the process under the Due Process Clause. The court held that a post-termination evidentiary hearing satisfied due process because the benefits were not the sole source of subsistence income.
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Wade Watson's welfare payments were cut off without any hearing after the agency found him ineligible. He sued claiming a due process violation. The court ruled that a pre-termination evidentiary hearing was required because termination threatened his very means of survival.
Warren Wu challenged the constitutionality of the federal old-age benefits program funded by payroll taxes. The court sustained the program as a valid exercise of the taxing and spending power that addressed a national problem of economic insecurity among the elderly.
Wayne Walker, a lawful permanent resident, was denied state welfare benefits under a statute limiting aid to citizens. The court struck down the restriction because it violated equal protection by discriminating against resident aliens without a compelling justification.
Woodridge Manufacturing employed several undocumented workers whose school-age children were denied public education under a state statute. The court held that the statute violated equal protection because it imposed a lifetime hardship on children who could not control their immigration status.
A court may require the other party to pay support to the extent necessary to prevent the disadvantaged spouse from qualifying for public assistance at separation or dissolution. The statute creates a narrow safety valve that respects the agreement except to the limited degree needed to protect the public fisc.
Supporting sources
No. When termination threatens the recipient's sole source of subsistence income, a pre-termination evidentiary hearing is required. A post-termination hearing suffices only when the benefits are not the sole means of survival.
Supporting sources
No. Durational residency requirements for welfare benefits violate equal protection when their purpose or effect is to deter the migration of indigent persons. Fiscal concerns alone do not justify the classification.
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…candidacies with large sums of public money, S. Rep. No. 93-689, supra , at 7, necessarily justifies the withholding of public assistance from candidates without significant public support. Thus, Congress may legitimately require "some preliminary showing of a significant modicum of support," Jenness v. Fortson, supra , at…