Social Security survivor benefits disqualifications - what makes you ineligible after being married?

I think you're confusing two different types of survivor benefits. There are spousal/ex-spouse survivor benefits (when your husband/wife dies) and parental survivor benefits (when your parent dies). For parent-to-child survivor benefits, your marital status isn't relevant, but your AGE is critical. Adult children generally only qualify for survivor benefits from parents if they were disabled before age 22 OR they're caring for the deceased's child under 16. At 56, you wouldn't qualify for survivor benefits based on your mother's record unless you meet the disability criteria I mentioned above. You generally need to be either under 18 (or 19 if still in high school) or disabled before 22 to get benefits as a surviving child.

ur not eligible. adult kids dont get ss when parents die unless ur disabled from before age 22. its a common mistake ppl make.

When my dad died last year I thought the same thing!! I was so sure I'd get something because he paid in for like 45 years. The SSA rep I talked to explained that adult children don't qualify unless they're disabled (from before age 22). Your marital status doesn't matter for parent benefits - that only matters for spousal benefits. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news!

To clearly answer your question about disqualifications for survivor benefits, here's what you need to know: 1. For survivor benefits as a CHILD of a deceased worker: - Being over age 18 (19 if still in high school) disqualifies you - Not being disabled before age 22 disqualifies you - Your marital status is NOT relevant 2. For survivor benefits as a SPOUSE of a deceased worker: - Being divorced less than 10 years disqualifies you - Being remarried before age 60 disqualifies you - Not meeting age requirements (generally 60+, or 50+ if disabled) Based on what you've shared (56, daughter of deceased), you wouldn't qualify for survivor benefits on your mother's record regardless of your marital history. The confusion might be because marriage status DOES affect widow/widower benefits, but not parent-to-child benefits.

Something similar happen to me, but I was calling about disability for my son not survivor. I wasted 4 weeks trying to get through to Social Security before I found a service called Claimyr. Its this thing that calls SSA for you and when they get through, it calls you and connects you. Saved me HOURS of hold time. Their website is claimyr.com and they have a demo video at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU - much better than struggling with the SSA phone system! They got me through in about 25 minutes when I had been trying for weeks.

To answer your follow-up question - correct. Even when you turn 60, you won't qualify for survivor benefits on your mother's record. The age 60 rule applies only to widow(er)'s benefits (when your spouse dies). The only survivor benefits available to children of deceased workers are: 1. Under age 18 (or 19 if still in high school) 2. Disabled before age 22 (and remain disabled) 3. A parent caring for the deceased worker's child who is under 16 I know it can seem unfair that you can't access your mother's benefits after she contributed for so many years, but the system is designed primarily to replace lost income for dependent family members, not as an inheritance system.

This whole system is RIDICULOUS! My mother paid into Social Security for 45 YEARS and when she died none of us adult children got ANYTHING! Meanwhile someone who never worked a day in their life can get SSI! How is this fair??? The government just keeps all that money my mom paid in! They should reform the entire system so family members can inherit what their parents paid in if they aren't going to use it all themselves!

One thing no one has mentioned - check if you might qualify for any one-time death benefit. It's only $255 and very limited in who can receive it, but worth asking about when you speak with SSA. It generally goes to a surviving spouse or dependent children, but eligibility rules can be complex.

Thank you all for the explanations. I was definitely confused about how the system works. I think I need to look into planning for my own retirement more carefully now. One last question - does anyone know if my mother's benefits that she was receiving (she was 78 when she passed) just stop completely, or does any portion continue to her estate?