Can I get my ex-husband's full Social Security survivor benefits if he died right after turning 62?

Yes, you can potentially receive survivor benefits based on your ex-husband's record since you were married for at least 10 years. The fact that he hadn't started collecting doesn't matter - his benefit will be calculated as if he had reached full retirement age, even though he passed away before that. However, since you're under your FRA, your survivor benefit will be reduced if you take it now. You'd get between 71.5% and 99% of his full benefit depending on your exact age when you switch. You might want to compare this amount with your current reduced benefit to see which is higher.

Thank you! So his benefit won't be reduced because he died at 62, but MINE would be reduced because I'm not at my FRA yet? Do you know if I can keep my reduced benefit now and then switch to the full survivor benefit when I reach my FRA?

From what i know you can get his benfit but it might be less since your under FRA. my sister went thru something like this and she had to bring marriage certificate and divorce papers and death certificate to her appointment. good luck

Thanks for the info about the documents. Did your sister have to wait long for an appointment? I've been calling for days and can't get through to anyone.

The SSA is TERRIBLE with explaining survivor benefits!!! I went through this last year and wasted MONTHS trying to figure it out. They kept giving me different answers every time I called. One person said I couldn't get ex-spouse benefits at all (WRONG) and another said I had to wait until I was 67 (ALSO WRONG). You need to talk to someone who ACTUALLY knows the survivor rules for divorced spouses!!

This is exactly what I'm worried about! I don't want to make a mistake that costs me money for the rest of my life. Did you finally get to talk to someone knowledgeable?

I finally got through to someone in the special survivor benefits department who knew what they were talking about, but it took forever!! Called like 50 times before I got someone helpful.

When I had a similar situation trying to reach SSA about my widow benefits last year, I discovered a service called Claimyr that helped me get through to Social Security without the endless waiting. It connected me directly with an agent after just a few minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours or getting disconnected. I watched their demo video at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU before trying it. Their website is claimyr.com if you want to check it out. Made the whole process much easier and I was able to get clear answers about my survivor benefits situation.

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll definitely look into that. At this point I'm desperate to talk to someone who can give me a straight answer about how much I'll receive and when I should apply.

does that really work?? i tried calling SS for 3 days straight last month and got disconnected every time

It worked for me! I was skeptical at first but was able to talk to an actual SSA person after trying unsuccessfully for weeks on my own. The rep walked me through my whole survivor benefits situation.

Important point: You have a choice to make here. Since you're already collecting your own reduced retirement benefit, you can either:1. Switch to the survivor benefit now (it will be reduced since you're under FRA)2. Keep your reduced retirement benefit now and switch to the FULL survivor benefit when you reach your FRAOption 2 is usually better financially if you can manage with your current benefit for now. When you reach your FRA, you'll get 100% of what your ex-husband would have received at his FRA, regardless of the fact that he died at 62.Just to clarify a common misunderstanding: the fact that he had not applied for benefits is irrelevant for survivor benefits. SSA calculates the amount based on what he would have been entitled to, not what he was actually receiving.

This is SO helpful! I think waiting until my FRA to switch might be the best option then. Does that mean I need to do anything now to

You don't need to do anything to \

kinda off topic but did your ex have any other marriages after you? because if he remarried someone else that might affect things too I think

Yes, he did remarry about 5 years after our divorce. Does that affect my ability to claim on his record? Now I'm worried again...

No need to worry about that. An ex-spouse's subsequent marriages don't affect your eligibility for divorced spouse survivor benefits as long as your marriage lasted at least 10 years. His current widow may also be eligible for survivor benefits on his record, but that doesn't reduce or eliminate your entitlement.

my friend got more money from her dead ex than she did from her own SS but she had to fight for it!! make sure u get whats urs!!

Thank you for the encouragement! I'm definitely going to pursue this and make sure I get the correct benefit amount.

To summarize what everyone has shared, here's what you should do:1. Contact SSA right away to notify them of your ex-husband's death and your potential eligibility for survivor benefits2. Bring marriage certificate, divorce decree, and his death certificate if you go in person3. Ask them to calculate both amounts: what you'd get if you switch to survivor benefits now (reduced) versus waiting until your FRA (full amount)4. Make your decision based on those calculations and your financial needsOne more thing: there's a time limit for applying for some Social Security benefits that can affect retroactive payments, so don't delay in at least making initial contact with SSA.

Thank you so much! This is a great checklist of what I need to do. I've gathered my documents and will try to connect with SSA this week to get the process started. I really appreciate everyone's help!