my husband died in 2013.
i received widows benefits in 2015 when i turned 60..

-i had applied for disability in 2012 but was denied over and over by the same judge-
final denial December 2015

i reapplied for disability without a lawyer
and was approved for disability dated back to December 2015,
the same month and year the judge denied me...???

**i was told my social security should have gone up[by friends ]

since i was deemed disabled 2 years after husband died
,that i should get his full amount..
i went to the ss office and they said no..

should my widows check have gone up because i was deemed disabled ?

thank you for your time
s

Hi S,

I'm sorry for your loss.

The answer to your question is no, assuming that your date of entitlement to disability benefits (SSDI) was later than your date of entitlement to widow's benefits.

For example, say Jane is a widow and her deceased husband's full retirement age rate (PIA) was $2200. Jane's husband died before becoming eligible for benefits, so Jane could be paid up to his full PIA if she waited until her full retirement age (FRA) to start drawing widow's benefits. However, Jane decides to file for her widow's benefits at age 60 and receives a reduced rate of $1573, or 71.5% of her husband's PIA.

If Jane subsequently becomes entitled to SSDI benefits after her widow's benefits started, she could only be paid the higher of her own SSDI rate or her reduced widow's rate. So, if for example her SSDI rate was $1000, she would still receive only her reduced widow's rate of $1573. Technically, Social Security would then pay her $1000 on her own record and $573 from her husband's record, but her total rate wouldn't change.

On the other hand, if Jane had been entitled to her SSDI before or at the same time that she filed for widow's benefits at age 60, a different computation method would have been used. In that case she would be paid her own full SSDI rate plus a reduced widow's rate equal to 71.5% of the difference between her SSDI rate and her husband's PIA. So, assuming the same unreduced rates in the example above, Jane's combined rate would then be $1858 (i.e. her $1000 SSDI plus 71.5% of the $1200 difference between her SSDI and her husband's PIA).

So unfortunately, it sounds like you're probably stuck with your current rate due to the timing of when you started drawing your widow's benefits and when you were finally approved for SSDI benefits. I can't be sure of that, though, since you didn't mention which month in 2015 that you started drawing widow's benefits.

Best, Jerry