My brother passed away suddenly at age 59. His wife just turned 60. Is she entitled to any social security benefits? I believe she stopped working about 20 years ago when their youngest child was born.

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

Assuming that your brother was insured for Social Security benefits, his wife would likely qualify immediately for at least a one-time $255 death benefit. She could also apply for monthly widow's benefits since she's at least age 60, but her benefit rate would be reduced for age if she starts drawing her widow's benefits prior to her full retirement age (https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.04/handbook-0401.html).

If your sister-in-law worked long enough to qualify for benefits based on her own work history, her best filing strategy would almost certainly be one of the following:
1) File for reduced widow's benefits now and then switch to her own record at age 70; or,
2) File for reduced retirement benefits on her own record at age 62 and then file for unreduced widow's benefits at full retirement age.

Normally, your sister-in-law would want to start out drawing the lower benefit first and then switch to the higher record when it reaches it's highest potential rate. Therefore, if she didn't have earnings for the past 20 years and if your brother had a long work history and was paying Social Security taxes on his earnings, it sounds like option #2 above would probably be the best way for your sister-in-law to maximize her benefits. I don't have enough information to be sure of that, though, so your sister-in-law may want to strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to sort out her options and determine her optimal strategy for claiming her benefits.

Best, Jerry