husband worked railroad for 16 years Got annuity check after the WWII and got payments till he died. He also paid social security for 40 years. Does his widow get railroad and social security?

Hi,

The widow in your question couldn't get survivor benefits from both Social Security and Railroad Retirement. If a person who dies had credits under both the Social Security program and Railroad Retirement, the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) determines which agency has jurisdiction for the payment of any survivor benefits. The deceased worker's earnings under both programs are then combined in order to determine the benefit rate payable to survivors.

However, a widow could potentially receive both Social Security retirement benefits on her own work record and survivor benefits from the Railroad, but in that case the RRB would offset her Tier 1 Railroad benefits dollar for dollar by the amount of her Social Security benefits.

Best, Jerry