Widow's Benefits

my husband died in 1992. When i retire in June 2018, how will that affect the social security benefits i receive in his name?

Hi,

Hi Mr Larry
I'm the surviving spouse of a Retired Military Veteran. I am drawing both DIC Benefits & DFAS-SSIA Benefits. I was told, at the time of my husband's death in 2011, that I could begin drawing from his SS benefits when I reached age 60. I will be 60 in April of this yr (2017). My question is... Will I lose my surviving spouse military benefits (either all OR partial) when I start drawing benefits from my late husband's SS?
Thank I for your help.

Hi,

My husband died in 2015 at the age of 64. He had been receiving disability social security. I had retired in 2010. Today,Feb 24, 2017, I am 62 but will be 63 in April. Social Security said I could not draw his social security because my benefit was more than what he was drawing. I did not have all my quarters in and had to go back to work part-time. Now, I do have my quarters in, BUT was told it wouldn't even pay $100 per month. It seems unfair for the widows that we cannot draw our spouses ---even a small portion-- from our spouse.

Hi,

Hi Larry,
Thank you for your column & advice. I'm trying to help my recently widowed sister in law. Her husband passed away last Sept 2016 at 68. He signed up for social security at 62. She sign up at 63. She will be FRA (66) in March 2016. Is she eligible to be grandfathered? They never knew about the new rules about to happen in 2016. I am reading your revised book & have purchased the software. But what steps if any would you recommend to her to acquire more monthly income? Her current amount is $3.00 more than what her husband received per month.

I am 57 years old. My husband passed away last year at age 61 after retiring but before claiming any SS benefits. We were separated at the time but not divorced. We were married 35 years in which time I was a homemaker and did not earn substantial income. I am trying to understand surviving widow benefits, retirement benefits and remarriage. If I remarry before I am 60, I understand I don't qualify for any benefits on my husbands earnings. If I remarry after age 60, can I still claim benefits on my first husband's wages when I reach full retirement age?

I was born 12/21/1950 and began receiving SS this year (1/2017). My wife (born 4/8/1956) plans on receiving a reduced benefit in 2018, at 62. My question is: If I precede my wife in death, will she be eligible to receive my benefit, which is considerably higher?

Thanks, Ted

Hi,

The answer is yes, provided that your wife is at least full retirement age at the time of your death. She would not get both her own benefit amount and yours, though, just the higher of the two.

I have long suspected my disability widow's benefits are lower then what I expect. I recently read about SSA not calculating widow's benefits correctly if the spouse died before age 62. I guess this has accord when SSA did not apply the Windex pia to their calculations. SSA’s systems did not detect when a WINDEX PIA applied for manually processed claims. Not sure how my claim was processed and would like to know how I could go about finding out. if they did or did not apply this benefit to me?

Hi,

You are the higher income earner and file for restricted spousal benefit(when you are 66 while your spouse is 64)
And you die at 69 before you switch to your own earned benefit; what will you spouse get for survivor benefit?
Looking forward to hearing from you
Thanks in advance Joe

Hi Joe,

My husband died in Sept 2016 at age 62. I turned 62 this week. Which is the best way for me to draw his social security. I have not worked in 30 year. I was a stay at home mom.
Looking forward to your answer.

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

My father died in 2010 and was getting his SS benefits, but after he died my mom wasn't able to continue getting those benefits. Why? My father worked all his life to get access to those dollars for himself and my mom and now she gets none of it. How is that right, can that be reversed and where has that money gone?

Hi,