My husband died suddenly at age 51, I was 53. I had a 15 year old for whom I received a benefit for 2-1/2 years until age 18. I did not know about widow's benefits until someone told me I could collect them at age 62 which is what I did. So I am now 69 and collected a widows benefit from age 62 until last year so at which time I switched over to mine own. Today someone said I could have collected a widows benefit from the date he passed away. I never knew this and so did not collect for the 9 years until I turned age 62. May I go back and collect the 9 years I did not collect. Thank you.

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

No, you couldn't claim benefits from that long ago. Applications for Social Security survivor benefits have a maximum retroactivity limit of 6 months. To ease your regrets, though, you could not have drawn widow's benefits until you were at least age 60 unless you were disabled. And, due to Social Security's earnings test, even at age 60 your benefits may have been subject to withholding if you were still working at that time.

Best, Jerry