Ask Larry

HI. I am a widow of a veteran, I currently receive a VA pention. I was wondering if I could apply for social security benefits as well on behave of my deceased husband?He died when he was 53 he never applied for social security, he was only receiving the same VA pention that I now receive.

Hi,

I'm not an expert on VA benefits, so I can't tell you what effect receiving a Social Security widow's benefit might have on your VA pension. You'll likely need to check with a VA representative to find out.

In order to qualify for Social Security widow's benefits, you must be at least age 60 or age 50 and disabled. You must also be unmarried, unless you remarried after age 60. And, if you are already drawing Social Security benefits on your own record you could only qualify for additional widow's benefits if your husband's primary insurance amount (PIA) is higher than your own benefit rate. For a full list of the requirements for widow's benefits, refer to this section of Social Security's handbook: https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.04/handbook-0401.html.

If you do qualify for widow's benefits, you may want to consider using our maximization software to determine your best strategy for claiming benefits.

Best, Jerry