Hi Larry,Thanks so much for taking our questions. My questions:
1. I had filed for Divorced Widow Benefits but found a job prior to any award letter or date of entitlement..application still showed as 'being processed'. I sent a letter to SSA to withdraw my application and they said I would have to file a Form 221 for the withdrawal to be considered, regardless of status of application. So, I did file this and the application was withdrawn.
Question: I recall Form 221 is allowed ONCE in a LIFETIME. I hope I can still avail my one time opportunity to withdraw in the future (if needed) since it was not even required to be used this time but I was pushed by SSA which I did mention in my cover letter to SSA. Is my right to Form 221 still reserved?

2. I am currently 60 years old and my ex-spouse died in 2015 at age 58. My questions:
a. How are disability benefits calculated for someone diabled at age 57?
b. How are Divorced Widow survivor benefits then calculated if he died at age 58?
c. Assuming RIM-LIB does not apply since he was on disability (and not retirement benefits)?
d. Does windexing still apply to determine higher of windexing and 'non-windexing and COLA' - since he died prior to age 62?

Hi,

First off, the form used to withdraw a Social Security application is an SSA-521 (https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-521.pdf), not a form 221. Furthermore the one-time withdrawal policy only applies to claims for Social Security retirement benefits, not survivor benefits. The claim that you withdrew was for survivor benefits, so it wouldn't prevent you from withdrawing a claim for retirement benefits in the future.

Once you sign and submit an application to Social Security, the only way to cancel the application is to submit a signed request for withdrawal. That's true regardless of whether or not your claim has been adjudicated or processed. Therefore, Social Security was correct when they told you that. I don't have enough details to know if withdrawing your application was a smart move, though, since that would depend on your potential benefit rates and the amount that you expect to earn.

The benefit rate for a person who qualifies for Social Security disability (SSDI) at age 57 would be based on an average of their highest 29 or 30 years of wage-indexed earnings. The computation formula is otherwise essentially the same as that used to compute a person's unreduced Social Security retirement benefit rate, except for using fewer earnings years.

RIB-LIM does not apply when calculating survivor rates if the deceased worker only drew SSDI benefits prior to their death. And yes, the windexing formula could still be used in your case since your ex died prior to age 62. Your unreduced survivor benefit rate if you apply at full retirement age (FRA) would be equal to the higher of your ex's primary insurance amount (PIA), or your alternate survivor PIA calculated using the windexing formula. Your ex's PIA would include any Social Security cost of living increases that occurred after his death.

It sounds like your best strategy for claiming benefits would likely be one of the following:
1) File for reduced surviving divorced spousal benefits now or as soon as your earnings will permit at least some benefits to be paid, then switch to your own record at age 70; or,
2) File for reduced retirement benefits on your own record at age 62 or as soon as your earnings will permit at least some benefits to be paid, then file for unreduced surviving divorced spousal benefits at full retirement age (FRA).

Normally, you would want to start out drawing the lower benefit first and then switch to the higher benefit when it reaches it's highest potential rate. Our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) could help sort all of this out for you so that you can determine the best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry