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Experts at Maximize My Social Security have answered more than 10,000 questions about Social Security over many years. Search for your questions and answers here.
Why Can't I Collect Both My Wife's Benefits And My Own Disability Benefits?
My wife was killed in a car accident in 2016 and i went to collect spouses benifits and they told me i couldn't get hers because i get disabilty and i have to take mine why cant i collect hers besides my disability we were married 30 years i think i should get hers also they said i couldn't so i asked them then whats going to happen to hers then so i think i should get hers and mine both
Hi,
I'm sorry for your loss.
Under the Social Security Act, if a person files for more than one type of Social Security benefit (e.g. retirement and spousal, survivor and disability, etc.) they can only be paid the higher of the two benefit rates, not both. Therefore, if you're already drawing Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits, you could only qualify for additional survivor benefits if the survivor benefit rate would be higher than your SSDI rate.
Best, Jerry
Category:
Posted:
February 13, 2020