My mother m passed away of I remember correctly it was in March of 2004. Can I cla her benefits. I'm just curious?.

Hi. I'm sorry for your loss. You can't claim a deceased parent's actual monthly benefits, nor can you claim a refund of any Social Security taxes that were paid by a deceased parent. The only way that you could receive anything based on a deceased parent's contributions to Social Security is if you qualify for surviving child benefits. To potentially qualify for surviving child benefits, you would need to be unrmarried and be either under age 18, 18 to 19 and still in high school, or disabled based on an impairment that became disabling prior to age 22 (https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.04/handbook-0410.html).

Best, Jerry