How many years do you have to be married to collect social security?

Question

My husband just passed away and I was struggling before to get by. We have only been married for three and a half years and we have no young children. Can I still collect?

Answer 1

As long as you were married and living together at the time of death of the worker, you are his surviving spouse, his widow. There is no length of time that you need to be married.

Dependent on his age, he must have worked up to 10 years while paying social security taxes during that time. If you were divorced, also known as a former spouse, it's possible you would still be eligible for benefits if your marriage had lasted 10 years, and you had not remarried.

As the widow of a qualified worker (with no children), you are entitled to a one time payment of $255.

You may be eligible to receive monthly survivor benefits if you are at least age 60, or age 50 and disabled.

Full benefits are paid if you are at full retirement age, 65-67 years old, depending on your year of birth.

http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10008.html

If you or the funeral director have not reported your husband's death to the Social Security office, you should do so as soon as possible.

Answer 2

The first answer appears to be correct about the 10 year requirement. The link below is a SSA FAQ for 'What are the requirements for a survivor to receive Social Security benefits?'

Answer 3

if he retired more than 10 years ago and spouse is only 62 than what

Answer 4

I believe it's 10 years. You'd still qualify for the "death benefit" payment of $275.00 though.

So sorry for your loss.

Answer 5

I'm sorry for your loss.