The Social Security Administration (SSA) estimates that 5 million widows and widowers receive monthly Social Security payments based on the economic history of their deceased spouse. However, widows and widowers can get benefits more quickly when they become disabled, and the amount of Social Security Disability (SSD) insurance that they can receive depends on their category of eligibility.
Keep reading to learn the facts. If you need help from a Social Security attorney, contact PLBH at (800) 435-7542.
You could be paid less than you are owed
According to a study by the Social Security Administration’s Office of Inspector General, the SSA underpaid 9,224 claimants who were 70 or older in one recent year by an estimated $131.8 million. The SSA makes the mistaken notion that a Social Security application for survivors’ benefits or retirement benefits constitutes an application for both circumstances at once. The applicant would have needed to make it clear that they wished to postpone filing for retirement benefits in order to prevent this misunderstanding.
In order to successfully navigate this challenging application procedure, it is important to seek the counsel of an experienced attorney if you need assistance receiving widow or widower SSD benefits in California.
Types of SSD Benefits for Widows and Widowers
Your age group frequently determines how much SSD payments you are eligible to receive as a widow or widower. The SSD age group classifications are as follows:
Those who reach full retirement age (65 for those born in 1939 or before and 67 for those born in 1962 or later) are entitled to full benefits, or 100% of the SSD benefits of the dead spouse.
Not yet at full retirement age but at least 60 years old. These individuals get reduced payments, often between 71.5 and 99 percent of the SSD benefits paid to the dead spouse.
Those who are at least 50 years old and disabled (whose disability must have started within seven years of the decedent’s death) are entitled to 71.5 percent of the SSD payments paid to the dead spouse.
This group will get 75% of the deceased spouse’s SSD benefits at any age while caring for a kid and receiving SSD survivor benefits on the deceased spouse’s record.
A widow or widower caring for a kid under the age of 16 who is getting SSD benefits on the record of the deceased spouse should be informed that payments expire when the child is 16 years old. However, if the kid is disabled and remains in the care of the widow or widower while receiving SSDI benefits based on the earnings record of the dead parent, the widow or widower may continue to collect payments. In most cases, a widow or widower must have been wed to the dead spouse for at least nine months.
Additionally, when a widow or widower works, their benefits may be diminished. According to the SSA, a physical or mental impairment that can be expected to cause death or that has lasted or is likely to remain for a continuous period of at least 12 months qualifies as a disability if it prevents the person from engaging in any “substantial gainful activity” (SGA).
If you are unable to do the same type of job you did before to the commencement of your disability and the SSA determines that you are unable to adapt to alternative work due to your present medical condition, then the SSA will deem you disabled.