Can ex-spouse claim survivor benefits without deceased ex-husband's SSN? Married 15+ years, never remarried
After years of scraping by on my reduced Social Security benefit (took it at 62, now at FRA), I just found out my ex-husband passed away last month. We were married for over 17 years before divorcing in 2005, and I never remarried. He earned almost triple what I did during our working years, so I know survivor benefits could significantly improve my monthly income. The problem is - I have NO IDEA what his Social Security number was! We've been divorced for almost 20 years and haven't spoken since. Is there any way for me to claim survivor benefits without his SSN? I called the Social Security office and got disconnected twice after waiting over an hour. Any advice would be incredibly helpful as this could increase my monthly check by over $850 based on what I'm estimating.
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Malik Jackson
Yes, you absolutely can file for survivor benefits without his SSN! The SSA can locate his record with other information. You'll need to provide: - His full name - His date of birth - His date of death (approximate is okay) - Place of marriage and divorce - His last known address Schedule an appointment and bring your marriage certificate and divorce decree if you have them. Since you were married more than 10 years and never remarried, you qualify for surviving divorced spouse benefits. The SSA deals with this situation frequently.
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LunarLegend
•Thank you so much! That's a huge relief. I have our marriage certificate but will need to request a copy of the divorce decree from the county. Do you know how long this process typically takes? I'm worried about missing out on payments.
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Isabella Oliveira
I went thru this same thing when my exwife died. married 22 yrs, no contact after divorce. The SS people found her record with just her name and birthday. took like 5 min when i finally got thru to them.
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LunarLegend
•That's really reassuring! Did they start your payments right away or was there a waiting period? I'm trying to figure out if I should adjust my budget immediately or not.
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Ravi Patel
Make sure you specify that you're applying for "surviving divorced spouse benefits" specifically when you contact SSA. Since you're already at your Full Retirement Age, you'll receive 100% of what your ex was entitled to if it's higher than your current benefit. The fact that you took your own benefit at 62 doesn't affect your survivor benefit amount. Also, don't delay! Survivor benefits are only retroactive for up to 6 months from application date, so the sooner you apply, the better. Even without his SSN, they can find him in their system with basic information.
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Freya Andersen
•Wait, I'm confused. I thought survivor benefits were different from spousal benefits? My friend's mother gets 50% of her ex's benefit, not 100%. Are these different things?
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Ravi Patel
•Yes, they're different benefits. When an ex-spouse is alive, you can get up to 50% of their benefit (spousal benefit). When they die, you can get up to 100% of their benefit (survivor benefit). Since OP's ex-husband passed away, she qualifies for the higher survivor benefit as a divorced spouse who was married 10+ years and never remarried.
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Omar Zaki
my condolences on your loss. even with an ex its still hard. good news is social security deals with this ALL THE TIME and they can help you
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CosmicCrusader
You should try using Claimyr to get through to SSA quickly. I was in a similar situation trying to claim widow benefits and kept getting disconnected too. With Claimyr, they got me through to a real person at SSA in about 20 minutes instead of hours on hold. Check out their demo video at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU or go to claimyr.com - it saved me so much frustration when dealing with my survivor benefits application!
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Chloe Robinson
•Thanks for mentioning this! I just tried calling SSA again and got disconnected AGAIN after 45 minutes. I'll try this service - at this point I'm desperate to talk to someone at SSA and get this process started.
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Chloe Robinson
The same thing happened to my sister, but she ran into a NIGHTMARE situation because her ex had remarried so his current wife was also claiming survivor benefits! Make SURE you bring proof of your marriage length (17 years is well over the 10 required) and divorce decree. The SSA will try to deny you if they can!! They told my sister she didn't qualify at first but she fought it and eventually got approved. The system is designed to reject people!!
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Malik Jackson
•This is incorrect information. A current spouse and qualifying ex-spouse can BOTH receive survivor benefits based on the same worker's record without affecting each other's benefits. Unlike spousal benefits while someone is alive (which can be affected by the family maximum), survivor benefits for multiple eligible individuals don't reduce each other's payments. The SSA isn't trying to deny valid claims - they follow specific eligibility rules.
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LunarLegend
UPDATE: I was able to reach SSA using that Claimyr service someone mentioned (THANK YOU!), and they confirmed I can apply without his SSN. I have an appointment next week! They said to bring: 1. My ID 2. Marriage certificate 3. Divorce decree 4. His obituary if I have it (I found it online) Apparently, I'll be eligible for either my own benefit or his, whichever is higher (and his will definitely be higher since he earned so much more). They'll backdate it up to 6 months if eligible. Feeling hopeful for the first time in years! Will update after my appointment.
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Isabella Oliveira
•congrats!! make sure you ask about any retroactive payments too. they owe you from the date he died i think
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Ravi Patel
•For survivor benefits, you can receive benefits for up to 6 months retroactively from your application date, not from the date of death (if that was longer ago). So applying as soon as possible is definitely the right move here. Good luck with your appointment!
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Freya Andersen
I don't understand why everyone is talking about survivor benefits... if they were divorced isn't it just regular spousal benefits on his record? My aunt gets benefits from her ex-husband and he's still alive so I'm confused why this is different????
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Malik Jackson
•The OP mentioned her ex-husband passed away, which makes this a survivor benefit situation, not a spousal benefit. When a former spouse is alive, you can receive up to 50% of their benefit amount (if you were married 10+ years). When they pass away, you can receive up to 100% of their benefit as a survivor benefit. These are two completely different benefits with different rules and payment amounts.
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Omar Zaki
congrats on getting an appointment! hope they fix u up with the higher benefit!
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