If you are the widow or widower of a person who worked long enough under Social Security, you can:

receive full benefits at full retirement age for survivors or reduced benefits as early as age 60;
begin receiving benefits as early as age 50 if you are disabled AND the disability started before or within seven years of the worker’s death.
Note: If a widow or widower who is caring for the worker’s children receives Social Security benefits, he or she is still eligible if their disability starts before those payments end or within seven years after they end.

Learn more at https://www.ssa.gov/planners/survivors/survivorchartred.html. A widow, widower, or surviving divorced spouse cannot apply online for survivors benefits. If you wish to apply for disability benefits as a survivor, contact Social Security online (https://www.ssa.gov/agency/contact/) or at 1-800-772-1213 to request an appointment. (If you are deaf or hard of hearing, call this TTY number, 1-800-325-0778.)

You can speed up the disability application process if you complete an Adult Disability Report (available at https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-3368.pdf) and have it available at the time of your appointment.

The same definition of disability (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/disability/dqualify4.html) is used for widows and widowers, as for workers.

You may receive survivors benefits at any age if you take care of the deceased worker’s child who is under age 16 or is disabled and receives benefits on the worker’s record. (See https://www.ssa.gov/planners/survivors/ifyou4.html.)

If you remarry after you reach age 60 (age 50 if disabled), your remarriage will not affect your eligibility for survivor’s benefits.

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Texas

Chapter: Public Benefits

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