SSD And The Death Of A Spouse: Things To Know
by Joyce Diaz
Your spouse worked their entire life, and they paid in their Social Security. Therefore, if they get to a point when they are unable to work, they are entitled to Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits. But what happens if your spouse dies somewhere along the way and they never get to draw the benefits they paid in? Here is a look at a few of the things you may want to know regarding losing a spouse and their SSD benefits.
What happens if your spouse dies after they have filed for SSD but before they are approved?
This actually happens more than what most people realize, but if your spouse files for their SSD and then passes away before they are ever approved, there may be a chance that you can continue the claim on their behalf. In fact, the claim that your spouse filed doesn't just cease to exist because the claimant lost their life. The case will continue to move through the filing process until a decision is made. In the event your spouse gets approved even though they are deceased, you may be entitled to an underpayment that covers from the time the claim was filed until the individual passed away.
Can you continue to obtain benefits after your spouse passes away?
In some situations, you can continue to receive a portion of your spouse's benefits after they have passed away, but you do have to talk to an attorney to find out if you qualify for spousal SSD benefits, and you do have to work with the Social Security Administration to determine how the situation should be handled. Once your spouse has passed away, it is important to make sure the Social Security Administration is notified, which usually gets taken care of for you by the people who handle after-life arrangements in your location.
Can you file an SSD claim yourself for your deceased spouse?
Perhaps your spouse never made it to a point when they felt they should apply for SSD. They passed away and never saw any of the benefits that they have already paid for during the years they worked and brought in an income. There is a short time frame in which you can actually file a claim on behalf of your deceased spouse, so it is best to reach out to a Social Security attorney for advice immediately after you have lost your loved one.
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Hello. My name is Stephanie Laurel. I have recently been through a divorce, and although I don’t wish it on anyone, I do wish that everyone could come out of the proceedings feeling they have been taken care of. My husband and I had been married twenty-eight years. We have four children, two of which are still under eighteen years of age. We owned the home we lived in and had a vacation home in a different state. We are civilized people, we get along fairly well considering, but no matter how much we thought we could go through the divorce process without lawyers, it wasn't possible. We each hired a divorce attorney to represent us. Most of the negotiations went well, but when we hit a rough spot the attorneys took over. Thank goodness. I’m going to share more about the experience and hope it helps you.