Hello,
I am currently 47 and on SSDI. I received survivor benefits For my daughter until 2014 (She turned 18) due to my husbands passing in 1996. Would I be eligible to receive widowers benefits under his record at age 50? Would it be better to wait?
Thank you!

Hi,

It sounds like you may be eligible for disabled widow's benefits (DWB) as early as age 50, but only if you became disabled no later than 7 years after the later of a) your husband's date of death, or b) your last month of entitlement to child in care survivor benefits. If you never received child in care survivor benefits, or mother's benefits, then you would need to have become disabled no later than 7 years after your husband's death. If you don't meet that requirement, the earliest that you could qualify for regular widow's benefits is age 60.

Furthermore, you could only qualify for DWB or regular widow's benefits in addition to your own Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits if your husband's primary insurance amount (PIA) is higher than your PIA. A person's PIA is equal to their Social Security retirement benefit rate if they start drawing their benefits at full retirement age (FRA), or their full SSDI rate.

If your husband's PIA is higher than your PIA and if you meet the other requirements, you'd want to claim DWB or regular widow's benefits as soon as you're first eligible. DWB benefits are reduced for age, as are regular widow's benefits if started prior to FRA. But, as long as you were already drawing SSDI benefits when you start drawing the DWB or regular widow's benefits, any reduction for age applied to the DWB or widow's rate is removed when you reach FRA. Therefore, in your case it sounds like there would be no downside to starting to draw DWB or regular widow's benefits as soon as you're first eligible (i.e. age 50 or 60 depending on when you became disabled).

Best, Jerry