Need deceased husband's SSN for survivor benefits - already approved for Social Security

SSA should already have your marriage linked in their system. When you go to apply for survivors benefits, they can look up his record using your information (your marriage date, his name and date of birth). You don't necessarily need his exact SSN if they can locate him in their system. And yes, survivor benefits can be paid retroactively up to 6 months before your application date, but not earlier than when you became eligible. Since you're already receiving your own benefit, they'll pay you the difference if his benefit amount is higher.

my mom went thru this last yr. bring ANY paperwork u have with his name/dob on it. old tax returns worked for her. the marriage certificate is good too. they made her wait like 3 hrs at the office tho so be ready for that!!

I totally understand your situation - been there! When my husband passed, I couldn't find ANY of his paperwork. The good news is the SSA has all that information already linked to your record. Just make sure you bring YOUR ID and social security card, proof of his death (death certificate), and your marriage certificate if you can find it. They should be able to look up everything else. And yes, the retroactive benefits are real - I got 5 months of back pay when I applied!

They denied my survivor benefits because I couldn't find my marriage certificate! Said they needed proof even though we were married 30 years! The whole system is rigged against seniors who don't keep perfect records. MAKE SURE you find that marriage certificate or they'll give you the runaround too.

If you're having trouble reaching Social Security to discuss this, I'd recommend trying Claimyr (claimyr.com). I was in a similar situation with survivor benefits and kept getting disconnected or waiting for hours. Claimyr got me through to an actual agent in about 15 minutes. They have a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. It saved me multiple trips to the SSA office which was especially helpful since I don't drive anymore. Much easier than trying to get an appointment these days.

Here's what you need to know about survivor benefits after you're already collecting your own retirement: 1. You'll get the HIGHER of either your benefit or your husband's, not both 2. The 6-month retroactive payment is correct, but limited to months you were eligible 3. For his SSN: bring death certificate, marriage certificate if possible 4. If you were already at Full Retirement Age when you applied in January, you'll get 100% of his benefit amount if it's higher than yours I've helped several family members navigate this. The SSA has improved their record linkage systems - they can almost certainly find his record without the SSN if you provide enough identifying information about him.

i had same problem last year couldn't find my husbands ssn anywhere!!! what worked for me was i found an old life insurance policy that had it listed. check any insurance papers, old tax returns, maybe even old medical bills sometimes they have ssn on them. also if he was military his dd214 would have it.

Why are you just now applying?? If he died in 2019 you should have applied right away! I bet you lost out on THOUSANDS of dollars by waiting. Social Security doesn't tell people this stuff on purpose so they save money.

u might try county records office where u got married they can give u copy of marriage license. also check old tax returns that's how my aunt found my uncles ssn