Hello, I am asking this question on behalf of my mother in-law. Her husband died when they were in their early 40's. Much later, when she started inquiring on collecting on his SS, she was told that she had to wait till she was of retirement age. With that, she waited till she was 67, and filed for both herself and to collect on him. She is now almost 70, and just told me this story, when I shared with her that she should have been able to collect on his at the age of 60. She also started collecting disability at the age of 54, which, if I'm not mistaken, would have qualified her to collect even earlier than 60. Can you please advise if there is a way to go back and request the monies she should have gotten from 60-67 (or even earlier)?

Thank You for your time.
Lisa

Hi Lisa,

Your mother-in-law would have to establish that she was dissuaded from filing a timely application for widow's benefits due to misinformation received from a Social Security representative. If she can, it's possible that Social Security could establish an earlier deemed filing date for widow's entitlement, and pay retroactive benefits accordingly.

Here is a link to the section of Social Security's operations manual that tells how to go about establishing a deemed filing date based on misinformation: https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0200204008.

Best, Jerry