Im 59, my wife passed away 15 years ago . Can I pick up her S.S. before I get mine. She was 7 years older than me.

Hi. I'm sorry for your loss. Unless you're disabled or you have an eligible child in your care, the earliest that you could claim widower benefits is at age 60. However, until you reach your full retirement age (FRA) of 67 there is also a Social Security earnings test that could prevent you from collecting benefits depending on how much you earn (https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/whileworking.html).

It sounds like your best strategy for claiming benefits would likely be one of the following:
1) File for reduced widower benefits at age 60 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 widower 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