Common reasons for denial:
Your deceased spouse must have earned a certain number of credits for you to qualify for benefits. The SSA offers a handy calculator to determine the required credits. Remarriage before age 60: Remarrying before age 60 usually makes you ineligible for benefits.
At age 60, you can only file for survivors benefits based on your deceased spouse's earnings record. Even if you remarry after 60, you can still claim survivors benefits. At age 62, you qualify for benefits based on your own record. If the benefits based on your record are higher, you'll receive the higher payment.
Impact of remarrying: If you remarry before age 60 (or 50 if disabled), you typically won't be eligible to collect survivor benefits from your former spouse. However, if the subsequent marriage ends, you may become eligible again.
If you're getting Survivor benefits, you may have earnings limits depending on your age. Your payment would be temporarily reduced if you earned above the limit in a year. Your Survivor benefit might also be reduced if you're getting a pension from government work.
Benefits will be suspended if the surviving former spouse remarries before age of 55. They will resume if that marriage ends as a result of death, divorce or annulment.
How long does a widow receive survivor benefits? Social Security benefits are payable to you for life unless you collect a retirement benefit that is greater than the survivor benefit.
Some government and railroad employees are not eligible for Social Security. American expatriates retiring in certain countries—and some retired immigrants to the U.S.—can't collect Social Security benefits. Divorced spouses married for fewer than 10 years cannot claim benefits based on the earnings of their ex-spouse.
You can request to cancel or reduce your survivor benefit election within 30 days from the date of your first regular monthly annuity payment.
You can get Social Security retirement or survivors benefits and work at the same time. But, if you're younger than full retirement age, and earn more than certain amounts, your benefits will be reduced.
The widow's penalty occurs when a surviving spouse's tax status reverts from married filing jointly to single. If you're a widow or widower, you can file a joint tax return for the year of your spouse's death.
The short version: Spousal benefits are available to retired workers' spouses or ex-spouses. They pay up to 50% of a worker's monthly retirement or disability benefit. Survivor benefits are paid to a surviving spouse or surviving ex-spouse when a Social Security beneficiary dies.
4. Exclusions Specified in the Policy. Most life insurance policies have exclusions that specify circumstances under which a death benefit will not be paid. Common exclusions include death from a risky activity, certain natural disasters, or acts of war.
Infrequent workers: Individuals who have insufficient earnings to qualify for Social Security, but are not late-arriving immigrants. Non-covered workers: Individuals with sufficient earnings, but who work in non-covered employment (primarily state and local government employees).
Ninety-five percent of never-beneficiaries are individuals whose earnings histories are insufficient to qualify for benefits. Late-arriving immigrants and infrequent workers comprise the vast majority of these insufficient earners.
Broken limbs, sprains, concussions, appendicitis, common colds, or influenza generally would not be disabilities. A broken leg that heals normally within a few months, for example, would not be a disability under the ADA.
If your spouse built up entitlement to the State Second Pension between 2002 and 2016, you are entitled to inherit 50% of this amount; PLUS. If your spouse built up entitlement to Graduated Retirement Benefit between 1961 and 1975, you are entitled to inherit 50% of this amount.
Usually, you can't get surviving spouse's benefits if you remarry before age 60 (or age 50 if you have a disability). But remarriage after age 60 (or age 50 if you have a disability) won't prevent you from getting benefit payments based on your former spouse's work.
As a surviving spouse, you're entitled to 100% of the deceased's benefits once you reach full retirement age. The full retirement age can differ based on the type of benefit. See this chart for the survivor's full retirement age.
Have you heard about the Social Security $16,728 yearly bonus? There's really no “bonus” that retirees can collect. The Social Security Administration (SSA) uses a specific formula based on your lifetime earnings to determine your benefit amount.
The Social Security 5-year rule refers specifically to disability benefits. It requires that you must have worked five out of the last ten years immediately before your disability onset to qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI).
Although payments are terminated for death and medical recovery, suspension of payments is common, particularly for financial reasons. Payments may be suspended because the recipient has excess earnings, excess unearned income, excess resources, or a change in living arrangements.