Am I allowed to apply for my husband’s SS after his death if I draw retirement money from my California teachers retirement system

Hi. You can apply for widow's benefits as early as age 60, but if you're receiving a pension based on your earnings from a governmental agency (e.g. federal, state, local) that were exempt from Social Security taxes, then your widow's benefit would likely be offset by 2/3rds of your governmental pension (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10007.pdf). So, it sounds like whether or not you'd be able to collect widow's benefits would depend on the relative amounts of your widow's rate and your teacher's pension.

Our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) is programmed to handle calculations involving the Government Pension Offset (GPO) provision, so you may want to consider using the software to fully analyze the options available to you.

Best, Jerry