My sister has been California married 25+yrs. She is 63 and wants to start her social sec. In 2017 she just found out, husband was married when young. Because the 1st. wife sent an annulment paper from her lawyer because she wanted to remarry. They're mobile home is only in husband's name. She's a cosmetologist and can't support herself alone. She is scared to death of getting in trouble by the gov. She and jerk husband have filed joint taxes all these years. Please help us with information

Hi,

If I understand what your saying, your sister just found out that she is likely not legally married because her husband has been married to someone else throughout their marriage. I'm not a lawyer, but I would think that your sister would probably want to consult with one regarding her situation. I doubt if she'll be in any trouble with the government, though, since she's always acted in good faith.

I can tell you that this problem likely won't affect your sister's Social Security options. Whether or not she's legally married would have no effect on her own Social Security retirement benefits. And, it sounds like she would probably meet the marital requirement for spousal or widow's benefits on the basis of Social Security's deemed marriage regulations. For more information on those, refer to Social Security's operations manual: https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0200305055.

Best, Jerry