Dear Larry,
Our Mom is entitled to survivor benefits. Official Texas government real estate records document that she and our dad were married well in excess of the required 10 years to qualify, but the SSA in Texas is refusing to honor the application because there is no documentation of our dad's divorce in Mexico on 12-22-1968 (back then you could pop over the border for a quickie divorce, and still be home by happy hour).

We have tried to satisfy their insistence on a divorce decree even though that is not one of the requirements for survivor benefits per the SSA web site, but securing quickie Mexican divorce records from the 60's has proven impossible.

How can we help our mom receive the benefits she is entitled to when the SSA seems to be making up capricious requirements as they go along?

With appreciation,
Bill

Hi Bill. I'm not sure if the divorce you refer to is your parent's divorce, or your father's divorce from a prior marriage. Social Security normally wouldn't require proof of divorce from a previous marriage unless there is some question about the validity of the worker's and claimant's marriage. However, if your parent's were divorced then Social Security would need proof that the 10 year duration of marriage requirement was met. Normally, that would be a divorce decree and a marriage certificate if the divorce decree doesn't show a marriage date. If divorce proof is required, the following section of Social Security's operations manual has information on obtaining vital records from Mexico: https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0200312258.

Social Security can potentially accept secondary evidence of a divorce if the divorce decree is unobtainable (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0200305140#a). If you aren't able to submit satisfactory evidence and if Social Security disallows your mother's claim for benefits, you can file an appeal.

Best, Jerry