My brother was married but lived separately from his wife when he died ( they were on good terms but couldn't live together.They were not legally separated and he helped care for thier 2 grandchildren whom she had adopted.When my brother passed ,social security told her that she was not entitled to surviver benefits for the granchildren because my brother did not live with them and was not on the adoption papers.My brother was 62 and was taking early social security.Is there any way that my sister in lawShe works as an assistant in a drug rehab facility and makes about 14$/hr can get surviver benefits for the children? My brother took care of them on weekends, helped financially and cared for the children while his wife was at work. Thank you, Colleen

Hi Colleen. I'm sorry for your loss. Based on your description it doesn't sound like your brother's grandchildren would qualify for survivor benefits on on brother's account. Grandchildren can only qualify for survivor benefits on the account of a grandparent if either a) they were adopted by the grandparent, or b) both of the grandchild's natural parents are either deceased or disabled AND the child lived with the grandparent and received one-half support from the grandparent throughout the entire year prior to when the grandparent died or started drawing Social Security benefits (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0200306235).

However, if your sister in law was still married to your brother at the time of his death then she may qualify for widow's benefits as early as age 60, or age 50 if she's disabled (https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.04/handbook-0401.html). Your sister in law may want to consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to analyze her options in order to determine her best strategy for claiming benefits.

Best, Jerry