Deceased husband’s widows pension
Hi my name is Loretta. my husband passed away last year we all had to pitch in for his funeral he died working as a cement finisher at work it was 108 my husband never got help from socal security he had a heart attack in 2014 in2015 he had colon cancer never got help from social security my question is when he died I had no help had to sell an old car that we had to pay the light social security said they would send 250 dollars for when your spouse dies never got that for widows pension do I have to wait till I’m 60 ?I’m 56 right now
Terry Says
Yes, though this is a sad situation, you must wait until you are 60 to claim a widows benefit on his earnings record. You must have been married to him for at least 10 years to qualify — and you must NOT be remarried if you want to collect.
But if you are disabled — or have minor children — you can collect benefits on that basis. In that case, contact Social Security immediately and apply for benefits on behalf of your children, or because you are disabled. (The disability benefits do take a long time to come, though.)
