Help protect your rights if your employer fails to give you notice of important details about your retirement plan Hiring a lawyer well versed in Retirement and ERISA law to represent you is the best way to ensure that you are receiving the appropriate retirement benefits.
Typically, no. In most cases, a lawyer is not needed to apply for social security survivor benefits. The survivor simply needs to submit documentation of the individual’s death and contact the Social Security Administration.
Social Security lawyers most often help clients get disability benefits in the form of SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) and SSI (Supplemental Security Income). These lawyers can also offer help with Social Security Retirement and Survivors Benefits claims.
Attorneys in Social Security overpayment cases are conscious that their clients are usually lower-income individuals due to their disability, and they know that it might be hard for the client to pay the attorney's bill.
Social Security allows you to claim both a retirement and a survivor benefit at the same time, but the two won't be added together to produce a bigger payment; you will receive the higher of the two amounts. You would be, in effect, simply claiming the bigger benefit.
If a person's application for Social Security Survivor Benefits is denied, the person can appeal the denial. A person has 60 days after they receive a notice of decision on their case from the SSA to ask for an appeal.
Go to www.ssa.gov/benefits/disability/appeal.html to complete an online request for a hearing. If needed, we can help you complete this form. You or your representative must request a hearing within 60 days after you get the notice of reconsideration determination (or, in rare cases, the initial determination).
Survivors Benefit Amount The more they paid into Social Security, the higher your benefits would be. These are examples of the benefits that survivors may receive: Widow or widower, full retirement age or older — 100% of the deceased worker's benefit amount.
for lifeWidows and widowers Generally, spouses and ex-spouses become eligible for survivor benefits at age 60 — 50 if they are disabled — provided they do not remarry before that age. These benefits are payable for life unless the spouse begins collecting a retirement benefit that is greater than the survivor benefit.
30 to 60 daysIt takes 30 to 60 days for survivors benefits payments to start after they are approved, according to the agency's website.
Unfortunately, your odds are even lower for getting your benefits approved on the first appeal—about 12%. If you move on to the next level of appeal, which involves a hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ), your chances for approval increase significantly—more than 55%.
Widow or widower, full retirement age or older—100% of your benefit amount. Widow or widower, age 60 to full retirement age—71½ to 99% of your basic amount.
Spousal benefits are based on a living spouse or ex-spouse's work history. Survivor benefits are based on a deceased spouse or ex-spouse's work history. The maximum spousal benefit is 50% of the worker's full retirement age (FRA) benefit.
Usually, you cannot collect the full amount of both Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and widow's benefits, because SSDI benefits are a form of an early retirement program. You could collect the higher amount of the two programs as long as you meet the eligibility requirements.
Social Security will not combine a late spouse's benefit and your own and pay you both. When you are eligible for two benefits, such as a survivor benefit and a retirement payment, Social Security doesn't add them together but rather pays you the higher of the two amounts.
A surviving spouse can collect 100 percent of the late spouse's benefit if the survivor has reached full retirement age, but the amount will be lower if the deceased spouse claimed benefits before he or she reached full retirement age.
Who is eligible for this program?Be at least age 60.Be the widow or widower of a fully insured worker.Meet the marriage duration requirement.Be unmarried, unless the marriage can be disregarded.Not be entitled to an equal or higher Social Security retirement benefit based on your own work.
Only the widow, widower or child of a Social Security beneficiary can collect the $255 death benefit, also known as a lump-sum death payment. Priority goes to a surviving spouse if any of the following apply: The widow or widower was living with the deceased at the time of death.
Widow or widower, full retirement age or older—100% of your benefit amount. Widow or widower, age 60 to full retirement age—71½ to 99% of your basic amount.
age 60The earliest a widow or widower can start receiving Social Security survivors benefits based on age will remain at age 60. Widows or widowers benefits based on age can start any time between age 60 and full retirement age as a survivor.