Can I claim survivor benefits at 60 from ex-husband who died before claiming Social Security?

Yes, you should be eligible for ex-spouse survivor benefits at 60! The marriage requirement is 10+ years (you have 18), and yes, you need to remain unmarried to claim them. The fact that he hadn't claimed his benefits before passing doesn't affect your eligibility - SSA will calculate what he would have received. Just know that claiming at 60 means you'll get about 71.5% of his full retirement age benefit. If you can wait until your own full retirement age, you'd get 100% of his benefit.

my mom was in similar situation when my dad passed. SSA will look at what ur ex would have gotten at full retirement. they base it on that. but beware the earnings limit if u work!! they take back $1 for every $2 u earn over the limit until u reach ur FRA. its confusing AF lol

I went through almost EXACTLY this situation except my ex was 62 when he died. If you're still working, be VERY careful about the earnings test - it will reduce your survivor benefits if you earn over $22,750 (that's the 2025 limit). And you might not be told about this until they send you an overpayment notice! Also, make sure you bring his death certificate, your marriage certificate, AND divorce decree to your appointment. They wouldn't even talk to me without all three documents and I had to reschedule.

Just wanted to add a quick note - survivor benefits from an ex-spouse don't affect what his current spouse (if he had one) would receive. This was a concern when my sister was in your situation - she worried she was taking away from someone else's benefits. Each person eligible for survivor benefits can receive their full amount.

After spending hours trying to get through to SSA for my own survivor benefits issue last month, I finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to a live SSA agent in under 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU For survivor benefits especially, you really need to talk to a real person because there are so many special rules and exceptions. And unlike retirement benefits, you can't apply for survivor benefits online.

One more important thing to consider: If you claim survivor benefits at 60, you can still switch to your own retirement benefit later if it would be higher. This is called the "restricted application" strategy and it's still available for survivor benefits (even though it was eliminated for spousal benefits). So you could take reduced survivor benefits at 60, then switch to your own benefit at 70 if your own work record would give you more by then.

my neighbor got surviver benefits from her ex but she had to bring like a TON of paperwork to prove they were married for the 10 years. make sure you have tax returns from when you were married and stuff because sometimes they make it really hard.

Did your ex-husband have any children? If so, they might be eligible for benefits too, even if they're adults now but disabled before 22. My brother gets SSDI from our dad even though our parents divorced when we were little. The whole system is confusing but there are a lot of benefits people don't know about.

After reading through all the comments, here's a summary for you: 1. Yes, you qualify for ex-spouse survivor benefits at 60 (must stay unmarried) 2. Taking benefits at 60 = about 71.5% of what you'd get at full retirement age 3. Watch out for the earnings test if you're working 4. Bring death certificate, marriage certificate, and divorce decree when you apply 5. You can switch to your own benefit later if it would be higher 6. You cannot apply for survivor benefits online - must call or visit in person Hope this helps!