My wife passed away back in 2001. She was 31 years old and just graduated college with a master's. It was a medical issue that cause her death. My mind was going all over the place and never thought about SS. Another family member wife just passed , he is collecting ,cis it to late for me to collect ?

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

It's never too late to apply for survivor benefits, but you must meet the requirements in order to qualify. Also, you can normally only claim benefits for a maximum of 6 months retroactively.

Widow(er) benefits can be paid to an eligible survivor as early as age 60, or at age 50 if they're disabled, or at any age if the survivor has an eligible child of the deceased's in their care who is under age 16 or disabled (https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.04/handbook-0401.html).

If you think that you may qualify for survivor benefits, you may want to consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/) to explore your options so that you can choose the best possible strategy for claiming benefits.

Best, Jerry