i have been collecting my deceased husbands social seurity benefits for past 10 years and i received a call from I dont know who but they left me a message my benefts will be suspended i assume it was social security i never applied for my own social security and I worked many years I did not know I could get both ts this correct I am 73 years old. when i appiled for social security 10 years ago they said i could only apply for one or the other is this correct please help me find answers

Hi,

I have no idea if the call you refer to was from Social Security, but if it was I would think they'd leave a call back number. In any case, it sounds like it would be a good idea to contact Social Security to see if there is some information that they need in order to prevent your benefits from being suspended. You can call their national number at 1-800-772-1213 or look up the contact information for your nearest office here: https://secure.ssa.gov/ICON/main.jsp.

You can't get both your own Social Security retirement benefits and a full widow's benefit from your husband's record. The most that you could be eligible for is the higher of those 2 benefit rates, so there is likely no reason for you to file for benefits on your own record unless your benefit rate would be higher than what you're already receiving as a widow. You may want to check with Social Security to see if your own retirement benefit rate would be higher than your widow's rate.

Best, Jerry