If I received my own SS Disability benefits and was then switched to SSD Widow Benefits because it was the higher wage. Will it go down when I reach my full retirement age. Even though I am disabled and collected on my record for four months or do I continue to collect S S D W B off his record?

Hi,

When you're receiving Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits based on your own work record and you subsequently become eligible for disabled widow's benefits (DWB), you don't actually switch to drawing just DWB. Instead, you continue drawing your SSDI benefits plus a partial DWB benefit, and the two benefits generally add up to somewhat more than you'd be paid if you were just drawing DWB. The reason for that is because SSDI benefits aren't reduced for age whereas DWB benefits are.

Assuming that's what occurred in your case, if you continue to be eligible for SSDI and DWB benefits until you reach full retirement age (FRA), your benefits will automatically convert to regular Social Security retirement and widow's benefits at that time. Your benefit rate won't go down because of that conversion, and instead your total rate will likely increase. As long as your SSDI entitlement started prior to or in the same month that your DWB started, the reduction for age applied to your DWB rate will be removed when you reach FRA. That would likely cause your total benefit amount to increase somewhat.

Best, Jerry