My ex husband passed in 2019. He was disabled and receiving SSDI. We were married 28 years. Neither of us remarried. Can I receive his SS and when can I apply?

Hi,

It sounds like you may be able to qualify for surviving divorced spousal benefits depending on your age (https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.04/handbook-0403.html). Assuming that you don't have a child in your care who could qualify for benefits on your ex's account, the earliest you could qualify for surviving divorced spousal benefits is at age 60, or age 50 if you're disabled. If you file for surviving divorced spousal benefits prior to your full retirement age (FRA), though, your rate would be reduced for age and your benefits could be subject to full or partial withholding if you work and earn too much. And, if you apply for both your own Social Security benefits and survivor benefits, you can only be paid essentially the higher of the two benefit rates.

If you're insured for benefits based on your own earnings, your best strategy would likely be one of the following:
1) File for reduced survivor benefits as early as age 60 or as soon as your earnings will permit at least some benefits to be paid, then switch to your own record at age 70; or,
2) File for reduced retirement benefits on your own record as early as age 62 or as soon as your earnings will permit at least some benefits to be paid, then file for unreduced survivor benefits at full retirement age (FRA).

Normally, you would want to start out drawing the lower benefit first and then switch to the higher benefit when it reaches it's highest potential rate. Our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) could help sort all of this out for you so that you can determine the best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry