Phoenix Widows and Widowers Benefits Lawyers

Losing a spouse can change nearly every part of your financial life. A disabling medical condition can add another problem by limiting your ability to work and replace the income your household once relied on.

Our Phoenix widows and widowers benefits lawyers help surviving spouses pursue Social Security benefits based on a deceased spouse’s earnings record. These claims can involve proof of marriage, the deceased spouse’s Social Security work record, the date a disability began, and medical evidence establishing the claimant’s limitations.

Key Disability focuses much of its practice on Social Security Disability claims and has represented thousands of claimants. We handle cases from the initial application through Administrative Law Judge hearings, Appeals Council review, and federal court proceedings when appropriate.

Call Key Disability at (800) 975-1866 or contact our office for a free case evaluation. Our legal team can review your circumstances and explain how the federal survivor and disability rules may apply.

Widows’ and widowers’ benefits are Social Security survivor benefits paid on a deceased worker’s earnings record. The Social Security Administration’s survivor eligibility rules state that a surviving spouse may qualify at age 60 or older, or between ages 50 and 59 when the surviving spouse has a qualifying disability.

Federal rules generally require the marriage to have lasted at least nine months immediately before the insured spouse died. Under 20 C.F.R. § 404.335, that requirement may not apply in certain cases involving accidental death, death in the line of duty, a prior marriage between the spouses, or a child of the spouses.

The deceased spouse must also have worked and paid Social Security taxes long enough for survivor benefits to be payable on that earnings record. Social Security credits earned through covered work determine whether the worker had sufficient insured status.

A surviving divorced spouse can qualify under separate rules. SSA generally requires the prior marriage to have lasted at least 10 years for survivor benefits based on an ex-spouse’s record.

A surviving spouse without a qualifying disability can generally begin reduced survivor benefits at age 60. Disabled widow or widower benefits may begin as early as age 50.

The timing of the disability also affects eligibility. Under 20 C.F.R. § 404.335, disability generally must begin no later than seven years after the insured worker’s death or seven years after certain prior mother’s, father’s, or disabled widow or widower benefits ended, whichever applicable event occurred last.

SSA refers to this window as the prescribed period. The agency’s Prescribed Period and Controlling Date guidance explains that the period generally ends at the earlier of 84 months after it begins or the month before the surviving spouse reaches age 60.

Medical records from years before the application can therefore become important. The evidence may need to establish that the disability began before the prescribed period ended, not merely that the claimant has a serious condition today.

Disabled widow and widower benefits are federal Social Security benefits. Phoenix applicants must satisfy the same federal disability definition SSA applies to other adult disability claims.

Under 20 C.F.R. § 404.1505, Social Security generally considers whether a medically determinable impairment keeps a claimant from engaging in substantial gainful activity. The impairment must meet the duration requirement or be expected to result in death. SSA then considers whether the claimant can still perform past relevant work or other substantial gainful work that exists in significant numbers in the national economy.

A diagnosis alone does not establish disability. The claim must show how medically established impairments affect the person’s ability to function and work.

Medical evidence can determine whether SSA finds that a claimant meets both the disability standard and the required onset period.

20 C.F.R. § 404.1512 generally places responsibility on the claimant to inform SSA about or submit evidence relating to disability. SSA also has responsibilities for developing the medical record and making reasonable efforts to obtain evidence from identified medical sources when the claimant gives permission.

Federal regulations recognize several categories of evidence. Under 20 C.F.R. § 404.1513, those categories include objective medical evidence, medical opinions, other medical evidence, and evidence from nonmedical sources.

Remarriage can change eligibility for surviving spouse benefits. If you remarry before age 50, you generally cannot receive disabled widow or widower benefits while that marriage continues. If the later marriage ends, benefits may become available again if you still satisfy the other eligibility requirements.

Remarriage after age 50 is treated differently. Under 20 C.F.R. § 404.335, a surviving spouse between ages 50 and 59 who remarries after reaching age 50 may still meet the marital-status requirement if the disability requirements were satisfied when the remarriage occurred.

That distinction makes the dates of disability onset and remarriage potentially important parts of the benefits claim.

Some surviving spouses already receive Social Security Disability Insurance or retirement benefits based on their own work record. Survivor benefits may still produce a higher monthly payment.

If your survivor benefit is higher than your own benefit, Social Security will pay you the higher amount. You cannot get both full payments, but you will get whichever is more.

SSA also allows survivor benefits and a person’s own retirement benefits to be claimed at different times in some circumstances. Its survivor benefit amount guidance explains that the two payments are not simply added together and that a person may later switch to another benefit when appropriate.

The deceased spouse’s earnings record, the claimant’s own benefits, age, and timing can therefore affect the monthly benefit amount.

SSA currently does not accept survivor benefit applications online. Its Form SSA-10 application guidance directs applicants seeking widow’s, widower’s, or surviving divorced spouse’s benefits to contact Social Security by telephone or through a local Social Security office.

Social Security may ask for proof of death, Social Security numbers, birth and marriage records, divorce papers if needed, and details about your spouse’s work. If you are disabled, you will also need to give information about your medical treatment and how your condition limits you.

If you live in Phoenix, you follow the same federal rules as everyone else. Our experience in Arizona can help you gather the right evidence and guide your claim through the process.

Social Security provides four levels of review after an unfavorable initial determination. The SSA appeals process lists reconsideration, a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge, Appeals Council review, and federal district court review.

Appeal deadlines can affect whether a claimant receives further review. SSA generally gives a claimant 60 days after receiving a decision notice to request the next level of appeal. SSA ordinarily presumes the notice arrived five days after the date shown on it unless the claimant establishes later receipt.

A disabled widow or widower appeal may concern medical disability, the established onset date, marital status, the deceased spouse’s earnings record, or another eligibility requirement.

If the Appeals Council completes its action and the claimant seeks judicial review, SSA states that the civil action generally must be filed in the federal judicial district where the claimant lives or has a principal place of business. For a Phoenix resident, that generally means federal court in the District of Arizona.

Key Disability handles Social Security claims through multiple stages of review. Our founding attorney has represented thousands of Social Security claimants. Additionally, a member of our legal team has appeared before hundreds of Administrative Law Judges.

A disabled widow or widower claim can involve medical evidence, Social Security records, marriage history, benefit calculations, and eligibility dates within the same case. Our team works with Social Security Disability claims at the application and appeal stages and brings experience handling cases in Arizona and other states.

Call Key Disability at (800) 975-1866 for a free case evaluation. We can review your Phoenix widows and widowers benefits claim and discuss how we may assist with the application, hearing, or appeal.