Hi Larry

I am a US citizen aged 55. I have been living in Spain for the past 3 years. I was born in the UK and I worked in the USA from 1991 to 2018. I hold both UK and USA passports. During the years I worked in the USA I contributed to the system and my account on ssa.gov shows I am eligible for social security benefits.

I recently married a Spanish citizen and we want to understand what we need to do to ensure that she is able to receive social security survivor benefit after I die and spousal benefit too, if available.

We intend to stay living in Spain so we are not planning for her to become a US resident or citizen.

What will my wife need in order to ensure eligibility for SSA survivor benefit?

Gracias!

Hi. The U.S. Social Security program has a totalization agreement with Spain, so your wife could qualify for spousal or survivor benefits while she's living there. It doesn't sound like there's anything you or she would need to do in preparation, other than to apply for benefits when the time comes. When your wife does apply for benefits, Social Security will need to see proof of her age (e.g. birth certificate), and proof of your marriage (e.g. marriage certificate) if she ends up applying for survivor benefits.

Best, Jerry