Ex-husband died at 49 - How can I check my survivor benefits from abroad without calling Social Security?

So sorry for your loss. Yes, you can definitely get survivor benefits as an ex-spouse if you were married 10+ years and haven't remarried. Since you were married 18 years, you qualify. Living abroad shouldn't affect your eligibility. The SSA website has a benefit calculator, but it's not great for your specific situation. You'd need to create a my Social Security account online, but you might have trouble verifying your identity from overseas. Honestly, you'll probably need to call them. Have you tried using Claimyr? It's a service that waits on hold with SSA for you and calls you back when an agent is available. I used it when I was trying to sort out my widow benefits and it saved me hours. Their website is claimyr.com and they have a demo video (https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU) showing how it works. Since you're dealing with international calls, this might be especially helpful.

my cousin lives in spain and had similar issue. she had to call no matter what. the online stuff doesnt work right for intl people. sorry

The amount you'll receive is based on what your ex-husband would have received at his full retirement age, even though he passed before reaching that age. As an ex-spouse, you're eligible for 100% of his benefit if you wait until your full retirement age (probably 67 for you), or reduced benefits starting at 60. Since you mentioned having 5 years of US work history, also check if you qualify for benefits under a totalization agreement between the US and Portugal. This might allow you to combine your work credits from both countries to qualify for some benefits on your own record. You WILL need to contact SSA directly. There's no other way around it for survivor benefits, especially in complex cases involving international residence. SSA doesn't provide benefit estimates for survivor benefits through their online calculators.

I've been through this nightmare myself, though I was still in the US. You absolutely have to call them. The website won't tell you squat about survivor benefits, especially for someone who hasn't reached 60 yet. And living overseas makes it 10x worse!!! They'll probably make you mail in your marriage certificate AND divorce papers AND death certificate with an international form. Get ready for months of bureaucratic hell. Not trying to scare you, just being real about how SSA operates. They made me send the same documents THREE TIMES because they "lost" them.

Let me clarify a few points for you: 1. As the divorced spouse of a worker who died, you can receive survivor benefits at age 60 (or 50 if disabled) if your marriage lasted at least 10 years and you haven't remarried before age 60. 2. Your benefit amount will be between 71.5% (if you claim at exactly age 60) and 100% (if you wait until your full retirement age) of what your ex-husband would have received. 3. The fact that you don't qualify for your own benefits doesn't matter for survivor benefits. These are based entirely on your ex-husband's record. 4. Your residence abroad doesn't affect eligibility, but it does affect how you'll need to interact with SSA. You'll likely need to work with the Federal Benefits Unit (FBU) that serves Portugal. 5. You can email the FBU that serves Portugal rather than calling. Look up "Federal Benefits Unit" + "Portugal" to find the correct contact information. They can guide you through the process. As for documentation, start collecting: your marriage certificate, divorce decree, his death certificate, your birth certificate, and potentially his Social Security number if you have it.

sorry but did u remarry?? u didnt say. if u remarried u might not get anything

When I needed to sort out survivor benefits for my aunt who lives in Australia, we had to deal with ridiculous wait times trying to call SSA. We'd be on hold for 2+ hours only to get disconnected. So frustrating! We finally discovered Claimyr (claimyr.com) which was a game-changer. They have this system where they wait on hold for you with Social Security and then call you when an agent picks up. You can see their process in this video: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU It worked perfectly for our international situation and saved us so much stress. Their system connected us with an agent in about 25 minutes when we had been waiting 2+ hours ourselves.

Im sorry but i think you need to just apply now!!! My neighbor was in similar situation and SSA told her she needed to apply within 6 months of death or she would loose some backpay. I dont know if thats still true but better safe than sorry!! Even though you cant get payments until 60 you should apply now to protect your filing date!!

I'm so sorry for your loss, Kendrick. Losing an ex-spouse, especially at such a young age, can be emotionally complicated even years after divorce. Based on what others have shared, it sounds like contacting the Federal Benefits Unit in London (which serves Portugal) might be your best bet rather than trying to call the main SSA line. Email might work better for you given the time zone differences. One thing I wanted to add that I haven't seen mentioned - since you only have 5 years of US work credits, you definitely want to look into the US-Portugal totalization agreement that someone briefly mentioned. This could potentially help you qualify for some benefits on your own record by combining your US and Portuguese work history. It might not be much, but every bit helps, especially if you're planning to stay in Portugal long-term. Also, even though you can't claim survivor benefits until 60, it might be worth starting to organize your paperwork now. Get certified copies of your marriage certificate, divorce decree, and his death certificate while they're still relatively easy to obtain. Having everything ready will make the process smoother when the time comes. The Federal Benefits Unit should be able to give you a better idea of what documentation you'll need and how the process works for US expats in Portugal.