Can I claim Social Security survivor benefits at 63 if my husband died before we reached 10 years of marriage?

The good news is that your sister DOES qualify for survivor benefits! The 10-year marriage requirement applies to divorced spouse benefits, but for widow(er) benefits, the marriage length requirement is only 9 months. Since they were married for 9 years and 8 months, she easily meets this requirement. As a widow, she can claim reduced survivor benefits as early as age 60 (or 50 if disabled). At her current age of 63, she could claim reduced survivor benefits now while continuing to work (subject to earnings limits if claiming before her Full Retirement Age). She has several options: 1. Claim reduced survivor benefits now and switch to her own retirement benefits later if higher 2. Claim her own reduced retirement benefits now and switch to full survivor benefits at her FRA 3. Wait until her FRA to claim either benefit at its full value The best strategy depends on the relative benefit amounts and her life expectancy.

My husband passed when we were married 8 years and I got survivors no problem. The 10 years is only for divorced i think. Your sister should go ahead and apply!!

The previous commenters are correct that your sister qualifies for survivor benefits based on the 9-month marriage duration requirement being met. However, there are important details about working while receiving benefits that she needs to understand. For 2025, if she's collecting benefits before her Full Retirement Age (FRA), there's an earnings limit of approximately $22,320 per year. Social Security will deduct $1 in benefits for every $2 she earns above this limit. Since she's earning $65,000, a substantial portion of her survivor benefits would be withheld. If she waits until the year she reaches FRA, the earnings limit increases to about $59,520 with $1 withheld for every $3 earned above the limit. Once she reaches her FRA, there's no earnings limit at all. She should also compare the survivor benefit amount versus her own retirement benefit. At FRA, she'd receive 100% of her late husband's benefit. If she claims survivor benefits early, they're reduced. Similarly, taking her own retirement benefits early reduces them permanently. I recommend she schedule an appointment with SSA to discuss her specific situation and run the calculations for different claiming strategies.

I went through EXACTLY this situation last year trying to help my cousin apply for survivor benefits. Let me tell you - calling the SSA directly was IMPOSSIBLE. Busy signals, disconnects, being on hold for 3+ hours only to get hung up on. After weeks of frustration, I found a service called Claimyr that got us through to an agent in under 20 minutes. It was a lifesaver when we needed specific answers about the survivor benefits and earnings test calculations. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU and their website is claimyr.com My cousin was able to get all her questions answered in one call and make an informed decision instead of guessing about her options. For something as important as survivor benefits, it was worth not having to deal with the endless phone frustration.

Survivor benefits r differnt than divorced benefits!!! I think 9mo is all u need to be married, not 10 yrs!!

I'm sorry about your sister's loss. I went through something similar and found that the SSA website doesn't explain things very clearly. In addition to what others have said about the 9-month marriage requirement (which she meets), there's something else she should consider: If she takes her OWN retirement benefits early (before FRA), they'll be permanently reduced. But if she takes SURVIVOR benefits early, she can still switch to her full retirement benefit at FRA or later. This flexibility is really important! When I was in a similar situation, the best strategy for me was to take reduced survivor benefits at 60 and then switch to my own benefit at 70 (when it maxed out). Each situation is different though. The earnings test is brutal though - with her $65k income, they'll withhold a lot if she claims before FRA.

wait im confused, is it 9 months or 10 years to get survivors??? and what about her benfit vs his benefit? can she get both???

When my husband passed away in 2015 I was really confused about all this too!! SSA is impossible to understand sometimes!!! One thing no one mentioned yet - has your sister checked her husband's earnings record to see what his benefit would have been? She should make a my social security account online to see her own projected benefit too if she hasn't already done that. No point stressing about all this if her own benefit will be higher anyway!!

I HATE how the SSA punishes people who work! It's ridiculous that they'll withhold benefits if your sister keeps working. The whole system feels designed to force older people to retire early or lose out. My father-in-law lost thousands in benefits because he didn't understand the earnings limit when he started taking benefits at 62 while still working part-time. The SSA sent him a notice a year later demanding repayment! Anyone still working should be VERY careful about claiming early.