Will applying for Social Security widow benefits affect my disabled daughter's SSDI survivor benefits?

You're asking a great question about survivor benefits coordination. The good news is that your applying for widow's benefits at age 60 will NOT affect your adult disabled daughter's SSDI survivor benefits. Her benefits are based on her father's earnings record, and they're completely separate from your widow's benefits. There's no family maximum that would apply across both of your benefits in this specific situation. However, be aware that taking widow benefits at 60 means you'll get a reduced amount (about 71.5% of your late husband's full benefit). You might want to consider whether it makes financial sense to take them now or wait until your Full Retirement Age (FRA) to get 100% of the survivor benefit.

When I tried to get widow benefits last year, they told me there WAS a family maximum that affected everyone getting benefits on the same record!!! This system is so confusing and NOBODY gives the same answer twice. I spent 3 HOURS on hold only to be told something completely different from what I read online. The SSA website says there IS a maximum family benefit that applies to SSDI. So I don't know who to believe anymore. Has anyone else dealt with this family maximum thing with survivor benefits specifically??

my sister has disabled son gets survivors from his dad too. when she got her own SS at 62 it didnt change his payment any. i think ur fine

I worked at Social Security for 15 years before retiring, and I can confirm that your daughter's SSDI survivor benefits won't be affected by your widow's benefits. These are calculated separately. However, there's something important you should know: if you're considering applying at age 60, you might want to check if you qualify for disabled widow benefits instead of regular widow benefits. If you have medical issues that prevent you from working, the disabled widow benefit doesn't have the same reduction penalty. You'd need to meet disability criteria, but it might be worth exploring if your health issues are significant. Feel free to ask if you have any other questions about how these benefits interact.

I went through something similar with my disabled son after my husband passed. Waiting on hold with Social Security was impossible - I kept getting disconnected after 2+ hours of waiting. I finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual SSA agent in about 15 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU The agent I spoke with confirmed that widow benefits and adult disabled child benefits are calculated separately, so one doesn't reduce the other. It was worth getting a definitive answer directly from SSA rather than stressing about potentially messing up my son's benefits.

my aunt gets ssdi and her mom (my grandma) gets ssi and they had some family max thing come up so maybe its different for ssi vs ssdi? not sure but maybe thats why people are getting different answers anyway hope it works out for u and ur daughter!!

I just wanted to mention that when dealing with Social Security, always get the name of the person you speak with and ask them to make notes in your file about what they told you. I've had agents tell me completely contradictory things on different calls, and without documentation, it becomes your word against theirs. Regarding your actual question, I believe the others are correct that your application won't affect your daughter's benefits. The family maximum typically applies when there are multiple beneficiaries drawing from the same type of benefit on one person's record (like multiple children). Your widow benefit and her survivor SSDI are different categories.

OK but what about the benefit amount?? When my friend applied for widow benefits it was only like $950 a month!!! Is that even worth applying for?? No one has mentioned how much the OP might actually GET.

Thank you all so much for your helpful responses! I feel much more confident now that applying for my widow benefits won't impact my daughter's SSDI survivor benefits. I'm going to look into both regular widow benefits and possibly the disabled widow option that was mentioned. I'll definitely try that Claimyr service to connect with SSA faster - spending hours on hold only to get disconnected has been so frustrating. And I'll be sure to get the agent's name and ask them to document our conversation in my file. This community has been incredibly helpful! It's such a relief to understand how these benefits work together.