I am a 61-year old widow. My husband of 30 years passed last April, 2018 from cancer. I am collecting his SSI-Widow's Benefits here in the USA. I am American, he was from England, and always maintained his British citizenship. He came here in 1985 and has worked and lived here up until 2018. Question: Can I collect both SSI-Widow's Benefits here in the USA and also collect my husband's UK Pension? He worked in UK for about 15-17 years before moving to USA. I am in process of applying for his pension in UK as he had wanted me to do before he passed. However, I don't want to risk having SSI lowered or effected in any way. I work part-time and earn less than the required $17,040 per year. Thank you.

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

My expertise is limited to U.S. Social Security benefits, so all I can tell you is that if you qualify for a UK survivor pension, it would have no adverse effect on your U.S. Social Security widow's benefits. Nor would receipt of a UK survivor pension have any adverse effect on your own U.S. Social Security retirement benefits if you qualify for them. If you do have enough Social Security work credits to potentially be able to qualify for benefits based on your own work record, you should strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to determine your best strategy for claiming your benefits.

I can't tell you whether or not your U.S. Social Security benefits would have any bearing on your eligibility for a UK pension, though. Also, just to clarify, the amount that you could earn in 2019 without losing any of your U.S. benefits is actually $17,640 rather than $17,040.

Best, Jerry