Ask Larry

I am 54 with a 13 year old dautghter my wife of 13 years died 3 years ago, one month after her farther died, her will did not address the trust her parents had set up so my wifes inheritance will go to my daughter insted of me. My daughters money is now in a trust being invested, they are paying me $1000.00 a month for my daughters expenses. I am not working at this time but I am colecting surviver benefits. I will also be colecting dividens from a malpractice suit from my wifes death. My question is do either one of these incomes affect my surviver benefits?

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

No, neither dividends from a lawsuit nor an expense allowance from a trust would affect your Social Security survivor benefits. The only type of income that could affect your Social Security benefits is earned income, specifically wages or self employment earnings (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/whileworking2.html).

Best, Jerry