Can my 84-year-old mom switch to my late dad's Social Security survivor benefits after taking her own at 62?

Yes, your mom can absolutely switch to survivor benefits! When a spouse passes away, the surviving spouse can receive the higher of either their own benefit or their deceased spouse's benefit. Since your dad's benefit was higher, your mom should be eligible to receive his full $2,750 amount (minus any Medicare premiums). The fact that she claimed her own benefits early at 62 doesn't affect her survivor benefits at this point. What matters is that she's now the surviving spouse. She needs to contact Social Security as soon as possible by calling 1-800-772-1213 to report the death and apply for survivor benefits. She'll need your dad's death certificate. Just be prepared for potentially long wait times when calling.

my mom went thru this last yr... its definetly true she can get his full amount! but ssa doesnt automatically switch her, u HAVE to call them and apply 4 the survivor benfit. took my mom almost 2 months to get anyone on the phone tho ugh

I've been through this process and can confirm what others have said - your mom will receive your dad's higher benefit amount. The technical term is that she'll receive the "greater of" her own benefit or up to 100% of your dad's benefit. One important thing: Survivor benefits are NOT retroactive very far back, so apply immediately. She'll only get back payments from the time of application, not from the time of death. Every month of delay means lost money. When she calls, she'll need: - Your dad's death certificate - Their marriage certificate - Both their Social Security numbers - Her banking information for direct deposit - Her ID But honestly, getting through to SSA is the biggest challenge right now. I spent days trying to reach someone.

The SSA phone system is COMPLETELY BROKEN!!! I tried for THREE WEEKS to get through for my own issue and kept getting disconnected or told to call back later. This is how they treat seniors who paid into the system their whole lives?? DISGRACEFUL!!! Your poor mother shouldn't have to deal with this stress after losing her husband. The whole system needs to be overhauled!

After struggling to reach SSA for a similar survivor benefit situation, I discovered a service called Claimyr that helped me get through to an agent quickly. I was skeptical at first, but it actually worked - I got through to a real person in about 25 minutes instead of spending days trying. They have a video that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU The website is claimyr.com if you want to check it out. It was worth it for me because I needed to get my mom's survivor benefits started ASAP after my dad passed.

sorry about ur dad. when my husband died the funeral home actually filed something with ss for me. did they do that for ur mom? they should have but maybe check with them.

To clarify what happens with the funeral home: They typically submit Form SSA-721 (Statement of Death by Funeral Director), which only notifies SSA of the death. This doesn't automatically start survivor benefits - that requires a separate application. Also, I want to point out that your mom will need to specifically ask for the "Lump Sum Death Benefit" of $255 when she calls. It's not much, but it's something, and SSA doesn't always mention it if you don't ask. One last thing - her benefits will convert to survivor benefits the month after application approval, not retroactively to your dad's death, so time really is of the essence here.

My grandma got survivors benefits last year but she was so confused because they kept asking her about her own retirement date. I think it DOES matter when your mom took her benefits originally because my grandma had to fill out some extra paperwork. Maybe different rules for different ages? I'm not sure but thought I'd mention it just in case.

one more thing... when my mom finally got her survivors benefits they gave her back pay from when my dad died, not just from when she applied! so make sure ur mom asks about that!!