Can I claim Social Security survivor benefits from ex-husband who remarried before death?

Yes, your sister may qualify for survivor benefits as a divorced widow! The key factors are: 1) Was she married to him for at least 10 years? 2) Is she currently unmarried? and 3) Is she at least 60 years old? If yes to all three, then his remarriage doesn't affect her eligibility at all. She can potentially receive between 71.5%-100% of his PIA (Primary Insurance Amount) depending on when she claims. At 60, it would be reduced to 71.5% of his benefit amount. However, if she's getting disability, she should look into whether his survivor benefit would be higher than her own disability benefits, as she can only receive the higher of the two amounts.

my aunt got denied wen she tried this because they said she made to much money from her job. but she was only working part time so it didn make sense. SSA is always trying to deny people what they deserve

Your sister should apply as soon as possible even if she's still receiving short-term disability. The application process can take time, and it's important to get in the system. She should contact SSA directly by calling 1-800-772-1213, but be prepared for long wait times. When my wife applied for survivor benefits last year, we couldn't get through for days. I actually ended up using a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got us connected to an SSA agent in about 20 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU Make sure your sister gathers these documents before applying: - Her birth certificate - Marriage certificate - Divorce decree - Ex-husband's death certificate - Her Social Security number and his if she knows it - Bank account info for direct deposit The survivor benefit application cannot be done online - it must be done by phone or in person at an SSA office.

I went thru something similar with my exhusband. One thing nobody mentioned yet - if your sister is eligible for her OWN retirement benefits, she should ask about filing a RESTRICTED APPLICATION. This might let her take the survivor benefits now and switch to her own retirement later when they're higher at 70. Or maybe the other way around? I get confused about which is which.

DONT FORGET she has her short term disability now but she should apply for SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) immediately!!! If her cancer is serious enough to qualify, she could potentially receive SSDI and then later at FRA it automatically converts to regular SS retirement. The medical documentation is critical - if she doesn't have good records from her doctors about how her condition prevents her from working ANY job, she'll be denied!!!

Just to clarify one thing I didn't see mentioned - if your sister is considering claiming both her own retirement benefit and the survivor benefit from her ex, she needs to understand that there are different rules for each. She can claim survivor benefits as early as 60 (or 50 if disabled), but her own retirement she can't claim until 62. If she's dealing with cancer, the disability route might make more sense as others have suggested. Wishing her all the best with her health and benefits situation.

tell ur sister to be careful about when she files!!! if she's still getting short term disability and then gets SSDI and survivor benefits she might end up owing money back to somebody. my friend got a huge overpayment notice from SS because her disability insurance didn't tell her they were offsetting for SSDI