I am 52 and receive disability income. I recently married my husband in June 2020 who has cancer and died who is 72 died in September 2020. Can I receive any benefits from him

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

You normally must be married for at least 9 months in order to potentially qualify for widow's or disabled widow's benefits (DWB), so unless you meet an exception to that duration of marriage requirement then you likely couldn't qualify for monthly benefits from your husband's account (https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.04/handbook-0401.html). Exceptions to the duration of marriage requirement can be found in the following reference from Social Security's operations manual: https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.04/handbook-0404.html.

Also, even if you do meet the other requirements for DWB or widow's benefits you could only qualify for those benefits in addition to your own Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits if the higher of your husband's primary insurance amount (PIA) or his monthly benefit rate was higher than your PIA. A person's PIA is equal to their Social Security retirement benefit rate if they start drawing their benefits at full retirement age (FRA), or their full SSDI benefit rate.

Even if you don't qualify for monthly benefits from your husband record. though, you could likely qualify for a one-time death benefit of $255 (https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.04/handbook-0430.html). If you haven't already applied for that benefit, you'll need to contact Social Security to file an application.

Best, Jerry