| Disability can bring a lot of hassle and | | | | reduction. |
| inconvenience to you and your loved one as well. | | | | If you are a handicapped widow or widower, the |
| You could lose your income or worse result to | | | | minimum age requirement in order to avail of |
| your death. The good news is you can be qualified | | | | social security spouse benefits is 50 years old. |
| to avail of disability benefits under the law of your | | | | Under the law, you are qualified to receive |
| state. | | | | disability benefits, if you become handicapped |
| If you are a spouse of a disabled employee who | | | | immediately after the demise of your spouse at |
| has their paid social security taxes, you are eligible | | | | age 50. |
| to avail of social security spouse benefits. Here | | | | When availing of spousal benefits, your application |
| we will look at the basic principle of how spouses | | | | can be facilitated if you have the following |
| can available of disability benefits. | | | | documents: |
| Determining your social security benefits can be | | | | • Death certificate |
| easy. In fact, you do not even have to go out of | | | | • Your SS number as well as the dead |
| your house. If you have a personal computer, all | | | | worker’s number |
| you need to do is log on to the Internet and | | | | • Birth certificate |
| check out what the search engines have for you. | | | | • In the case of a widow or widower, |
| There are trusted websites that focus on social | | | | marriage certificate |
| security disability. You can also check out the | | | | • Divorce papers, if applicable |
| official website of the Social Security | | | | • SS number of dependent |
| Administration (SSA). | | | | • Your dead spouse’s W-2 form, or |
| Current, divorced, or former spouses are entitled | | | | federal self-employment tax return, for the |
| to receive benefits if the marriage lasts for a | | | | current year |
| minimum of ten years. However, although the law | | | | • Depository bank and account numbers |
| allows workers to avail of benefits for up to five | | | | If these documents are not available, the Social |
| spouses, each marriage should have followed | | | | Security Administration can obtain them for you. |
| proper divorce. | | | | Understanding these provisions can be too much |
| Since age 70 is the latest age for retiring and | | | | for you. By hiring a competent social security |
| because pre-teen marriage is not recognized in | | | | disability lawyer, things will not be as complicated |
| any state, the number of successive benefits will | | | | as they are before you hired an attorney. They |
| not be more than five in a ten-year period. The | | | | can make things more convenient and hassle-free. |
| non-working spouse may be eligible to receive | | | | Just make sure that you are comfortable with |
| benefits only upon application of the disabled | | | | the lawyer otherwise, everything will just be |
| worker. | | | | waste of time and money. |
| The earliest age that the spouse can avail of | | | | When hiring these lawyers, you do not have to |
| benefits is at 60 years old. The beneficiary will | | | | worry about attorney’s fees. Most of them |
| receive full benefits since they retired at the start | | | | charge a contingency fee. This means that they |
| of the normal retirement age. However, if the | | | | will not collect anything from you until the issue |
| spouse decides to avail of the benefits before the | | | | has been resolved and compensation has been |
| retirement age, it will be subjected to actuarial | | | | determined. |