my first wife died when she was 26 years old in1983
she did not have much of a work history
Am I able to collect death benefits and will that effect my ss disability payout
Thanks

Hi,

Your deceased wife would need to have had enough Social Security work credits to be insured In order for you to potentially qualify for survivor benefits on her record. If she died at age 26, though, she would only need 6 quarters of coverage to meet the insured status requirement.

However, if you're already drawing Social Security benefits (SSDI) on your own account you could only get additional survivor benefits from your deceased wife's record if her primary insurance amount is higher than your SSDI rate. You would also need to be at least age 50 and meet the other requirements for entitlement in order to potentially qualify for disabled widower's benefits (https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home%2Fhandbook/handbook.04/handbook-0401.html).

There's not enough information in your question for me to be able to advise you, so you should probably check with Social Security to see if you could qualify for any additional benefits.

Best, Jerry