Legal Question in Social Security Law in Washington

Re: widow

In a nutshell, you can get widower's benefits if you are age 50 or older and disabled or age 60 or older whether or not you are disabled. You must have been married for at least 9 months and your deceased spouse must have been fully insured. That is, he must have paid enough into the system. If you want to take a look at the regulation, it is in the Code of Federal Regulations, 20 C.F.R. SS 404.335. Also, if you had a child with your deceased spouse, you could get mother's benefits and child's benefits as survivors no matter what your age as long as he paid enough into the system. Hope this helps. Some people are confused by the fact that there is a "death benefit" when someone dies, which is a one-time benefit of only $250 or something like that if they have paid into the system. This is totally different from widower's benefits or mother's benefits.