I was married for 9 3/4 years. No one told me to hang on for 3 more months to make it a 10-year marriage. After many years alone, I found the love of my life. Our accountants told us not to marry due to tax reasons because I was still working full time and making good money while he was collecting Social Security and had a small income from an annuity. My love passed away unexpectedly when I was 55. We had been together for 9 years and would have qualified as common-law married in our home state, EXCEPT we did not live in one house but separately owned 2 houses that were side by side (we called one the East Wing and the other the West Wing). As best I can tell, if husband #1 passes away, I won't be able to collect survivor's benefits. And I'll never be able to collect any on husband #2's record because we didn't live together. I'm out of luck, aren't I?

Hi,

I can't say for sure. If your first marriage lasted less than 10 years and ended in divorce you couldn't qualify for benefits on that husband's record unless you have a child of his who under age 16 or disabled in your care when he dies.

Common law marriage rules vary in that states that recognize them, and I don't know if your other relationship could be considered as a legal marriage under the laws of your state. If it is, you would only need to have been married for at least the last 9 months prior to your husband's death in order to potentially qualify for widow's benefits. The following section of Social Security's operations manual contains information about state laws regarding common law marriages: https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0200305075.

Best, Jerry