Does the section about same-sex marriages about halfway down this page (https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.04/handbook-0406.html) affect widower's benefits from a same sex marriage if the spouse died before Canadian marriages were recognized in the US?
My spouse was on social security disability that started in 1992. We married in Canada in 2005. She died in 2015. Her benefit in 2015 was $975 a month. I have not remarried. We did not file as married in Virginia, or for Federal tax purposes. Am I entitled to claim widow's benefits at age 60, if my income will allow any benefits to be paid, and I do not remarry? I understand my benefits will be reduced to 71.5% of her COLA adjusted benefit if I claim at age 60. My own benefit will be much larger, and I plan of taking those at age 70.

Hi. Yes, as long as your marriage was legal under the laws of the Canadian province in which you were married then it sounds like you should be able to qualify for widow's benefits. Social Security recognizes foreign same-sex marriages as long as they were legal in the jurisdiction in which they occurred (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0200210006).

I'm not positive, but I believe that the Social Security handbook section to which you refer is outdated. Social Security does, in fact, now recognize same-sex marriages for benefit purposes. In any case, though, unless you remarry prior to age 60, the referenced handbook section wouldn't be relevant to your situation.

Best, Jerry