{"id":7396,"date":"2024-11-06T08:32:31","date_gmt":"2024-11-06T08:32:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/im-twice-widowed-which-husband-do-i-get-benefits-from\/"},"modified":"2024-11-06T08:32:31","modified_gmt":"2024-11-06T08:32:31","slug":"im-twice-widowed-which-husband-do-i-get-benefits-from","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/?p=7396","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019m Twice-Widowed. Which Husband Do I Get Benefits From?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\"ScoreCard<\/p>\n

Dear Penny,<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m a 69-year-old woman who is retired. My husband recently passed away, and received disability payments of $1,065 a month. My first husband died in 1980, and he had paid into Social Security the maximum amount for the year not long before he died. My question is which husband do I get benefits from?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014 Twice Widowed<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Dear Widowed,<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sorry for your loss. I hope you\u2019ll find these benefits simple enough to navigate so you can continue to support yourself going forward.<\/p>\n

Social Security payments and\u00a0Social Security Disability (SSDI) payments are fairly straightforward for the spouse of someone who\u2019s died.<\/p>\n

Assuming you remarried before you were 60 years old (or 50 if you\u2019re disabled), you\u2019re not eligible to receive benefits from your first husband\u2019s account. But you are eligible for benefits from your second husband\u2019s account. (If you remarried after the age cutoff, you\u2019re eligible for either benefits and can choose which to claim.)<\/p>\n

As a\u00a0surviving spouse<\/a>, you could receive a one-time payment of $255 called a death benefit, and you can receive survivor\u2019s benefits from your second husband\u2019s account. Because you\u2019ve reached full retirement age, you can receive the full monthly amount your husband was receiving from SSDI before he died.<\/p>\n

However, you\u2019re also eligible to draw your own retirement benefits if you worked and paid into Social Security yourself. Retirees can start claiming benefits as early as age 62, though the monthly benefit you can claim is higher the longer you wait to start, maxing out at age 70.<\/p>\n

You get to choose among the benefits you\u2019re eligible for to get the highest monthly amount. So if your survivor\u2019s benefit payment is higher than the payment you could claim now or when you turn 70, you can continue to claim that. If your own retirement benefit is higher, you can claim that one instead.<\/p>\n

Note that you\u2019ll still be eligible for your survivor\u2019s benefit if you remarry in the future; you\u2019d also be eligible for a spousal benefit if your new spouse received benefits, and that would give you another option to choose from to get the largest monthly amount.<\/p>\n

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