Hi. My friend Donna's husband died in 2011 at age 53. Someone at the local Social security office told her that she could not claim a deceased spousal benefit and
suspend her own benefit to age 70. I do not think that is true.

Donna DOB 11-20-53 Age 64 PIA $2452.

Nick DOB 9-12-1957
DOD 8-15-2011 Age 53 PIA $2303.

Does the fact that Nick was 4 years younger than Donna have any effect on her eligibility? She has scheduled an appointment at Social Security for February 24. She would like to begin collecting on his record and delay collecting on her own until age
70. Thank you! Betsy

Hi,

No, it doesn't matter that your friend's husband was younger than her. And yes, assuming that your friend isn't already drawing her own benefits she can file just for widow's benefits only and allow her own benefit rate to grow until age 70. She wouldn't want to file for her own retirement benefits and suspend them at any point, though, because that would prevent her from drawing widow's benefits. What she would want to do instead is simply delay filing for her retirement benefits until age 70.

Your friend may want to consider using our maximization software in order to determine the optimal month to claim her widow's benefits.

Best, Jerry