Situation: Mary was married to spouse for 7 years before getting divorce. During their marriage they had a disabled child. After the divorce, Mary continues to care for the disabled child (who is now 18 years old and collecting SSI). After the divorce, the spouse dies (2016). Mary is now 56 years old.

My questions are - can Mary collect survivor benefits, even though she was only married to her spouse for 7 years, since she is caring for their disabled adult child? If yes, at what age can she begin collecting this benefit? If yes, and this survivor benefit is more than Mary's worker's benefit, will she continue to receive the survivor benefit for the rest of her life?

Hi. Yes, assuming that Mary is unmarried and if the her disabled child is eligible for child or disabled adult child's (DAC) benefits, then it sound like Mary could qualify for divorced mother's benefits: https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.04/handbook-0416.html. Unlike divorced spousal benefits and surviving divorced spousal benefits, there is no set duration of marriage requirement for divorced mother's and father's benefits. Nor is there a minimum age limit, so it sounds like Mary could potentially have qualified for divorced mother's benefits as soon as her ex-spouse died if she had an eligible child of the deceased ex-spouse in her care at that time.

However, one of the requirements for mother's benefits is filing an application, and the maximum retroactivity allowed on a claim for survivor benefits is 6 months. Therefore, if Mary applies now for mother's benefits, she couldn't be paid retroactive benefits for more than 6 months prior to the month of her application. Furthermore, until Mary reaches her full retirement age (FRA), if she does qualify for benefits then her benefits would be subject to full or partial withholding if she works and earns too much. For example, in 2022 Social Security would need to withhold $1 of Mary's benefits for each $2 that she earns in excess of $19,560.

Regarding your last question, as long as Mary has an eligible child who is either under age 16 or disabled in her care and assuming that Mary meets the other requirements for divorced mother's benefits, then yes she could potentially continue to be paid those benefits for as long as she lives.

Best, Jerry