Larry this is my question my husband died 6 years ago this past April we had been married for two little two years and we divorced we were still together even though we were divorced we remarried and 2015 April the 3rd and he died April the 30th he had cancer and expected him to live 12 to 15 months and he threw a blood clot right after we got married they turn me down when I applied when he died 6 years ago now everything I'm reading and finding I am and was eligible for it do you have any suggestions I've applied and I'm still waiting to hear something I just thought I'd get your input thank you so much so far the people at social security that have taken the intake information have pulled up some of the same things that I have and they said that they didn't see why I didn't get it in the first place I got the $255 they told me I shouldn't have even got that and I asked them did they want me to pay it back they said no SS isn't going to give you anything for free

Hi. I'm sorry for your loss. You must normally have been married for at least 9 months in order to potentially qualify for widow's benefits, but since you were previously married to your husband for more than 9 months then you should be deemed to meet the length of marriage requirement as long as you had remarried him prior to his death. If you need to prove that to Social Security, the reference from Social Security's operations manual is GN 00305.100.A.2.c: https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0200305100.

You don't mention your age among other eligibility factors, so I'm not sure that you meet all of the other requirements for benefits which are outlined in the following section of Social Security's Handbook: https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.04/handbook-0401.html. Assuming that you do qualify, though, and if Social Security disallows your claim based on the length of marriage issue then you should probably file an appeal. Also, if you filed for and were eligible for widow's benefits in 2015, the disallowance of that claim could likely be reopened if Social Security was aware of your prior marriage and divorce at the time you applied (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0204010020). That could potentially allow you to be paid back pay.

I don't have enough information to know if your prior claim could be reopened nor what other filing options are available to you, so I can't give you any advice regarding your best option for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry