A friend 's wife died four years ago at age 65, my friend did not know he could take the greater of either his or his wife's SS benefit.Four years have past. Can he contact S.S. and collect his wie's SS?

Hi,

Your friend can certainly file for widower's benefits, but he can likely receive no more than 6 months of back pay even if he would have qualified for the benefits before then. Social Security has a 6 month retroactivity limit for unreduced widower's benefits, and no retroactivity is allowed for reduced benefits.

Best, Jerry