My husband died over 5 years ago and I would like to know why I cannot get his survivors benefits. I am 68 and am still working and receive my social security benefits, but my husband’s benefits are due to me . Why can’t I receive them? I am his surviving spouse. We were married over 34 years.

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

I assume that you're referring to widow's benefits based on your husband's earnings history. Unfortunately, there isn't enough information in your question for me to be able to give you a definitive answer. What I can tell you is that it sounds like you'd probably meet the requirements for widow's benefits, but if you're drawing your own Social Security retirement benefits then you could only be paid widow's benefits if your widow's rate is higher than your own retirement benefit rate. Generally, the surviving member of a couple can be paid the higher of their own benefit rate or their deceased spouse's benefit rate, not both.

If you think that you should qualify for widow's benefits (https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.04/handbook-0401.html) and you haven't applied for them, you'll probably want to contact Social Security to see about filing an application.

However, if your husband was receiving survivor benefits from a former spouse's Social Security record, then you couldn't be eligible for those benefits. Social Security survivor benefits can only be paid to eligible family members of the deceased person. If a person is married and they're receiving survivor benefits, those benefits cannot be passed on to their surviving spouse when they die.

Best, Jerry