Older man married with SS benefits. What happens with his SS after he is deceased,in regards to wife

[playbgnow]

I have an older friend who collects social security from the U.S.

He is married a couple of years now.

When he passes on, will his wife be able to collect his SS benefits?

He is American and she is Thai.

Thank you for your time.

[greg67]

In order for a foreign spouse to collect SS survivor benefits she would have to reside in US for at least 5 years with her husband after getting married.

[Spaniel]

I think the only thing she will be elgible for is a one time death payment, which I think is around $250.

[ubonjoe]

She would need 5 years of permanent residency or have US citizenship to get survivor benefits.

[fiddlehead]

What if they had a son together?
And he was a US citizen, but living in Thailand?

[Spaniel]

What if they had a son together?

And he was a US citizen, but living in Thailand?

If the son/daughter is under 18 and the father or mother is collecting SS then they can file for benifits. When I turned 62 our son was 16, so I filed for SS benifits for him and I collected for 2 years, until he turned 18.

[IMA_FARANG]

What if they had a son together?

And he was a US citizen, but living in Thailand?

If the son/daughter is under 18 and the father or mother is collecting SS then they can file for benifits. When I turned 62 our son was 16, so I filed for SS benifits for him and I collected for 2 years, until he turned 18.

--------------------------

Yes, that is true.

And , I believe benefits may be collected longer if he is still a full time student in school.(including College)

But I am not an expert on that.

[Spaniel]

What if they had a son together?

And he was a US citizen, but living in Thailand?

If the son/daughter is under 18 and the father or mother is collecting SS then they can file for benifits. When I turned 62 our son was 16, so I filed for SS benifits for him and I collected for 2 years, until he turned 18.

--------------------------

Yes, that is true.

And , I believe benefits may be collected longer if he is still a full time student in school.(including College)

But I am not an expert on that.

The benefits stop at age 18 possibly 19 if still in high school. Definitely does not include college.

[taxout]

Social Security once did pay Survivor's Benefits to full-time students up till age 22, but the law was changed to eliminate this benefit in 1981.

[Pib]

https://www.ssa.gov/planners/survivors/onyourown4.html

Survivors Planner: Survivors Benefits For Your Children

Your unmarried children who are under 18 (up to age 19 if attending elementary or secondary school full time) can be eligible to receive Social Security benefits when you die.

And your child can get benefits at any age if he or she was disabled before age 22 and remains disabled.

Besides your natural children, your stepchildren, grandchildren, step grandchildren or adopted children may receive benefits under certain circumstances.

[Pib]

It can get complicated. https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0302610030!opendocument

5 Year Residency Requirements for Spouses, Natural Child, Adopted Child, and a Parent A. Spousal Relationships

Spousal relationships include spouses, widows/widowers, divorced spouses, surviving divorced spouses, or surviving divorced mothers or fathers.

1. When the Residency Requirement is Met

An alien entitled to benefits as a spouse, widow/widower, divorced spouse, surviving divorced spouse, or surviving divorced mother or father must meet the following requirement:

• The alien must have resided in the U.S. for 5 or more years, and

• The alien must have been in a spousal relationship with the person on whose earnings record the entitlement is based for 5 or more years.

"NH" means social security Number Holder

E. The Natural Child

An alien who is entitled to benefits as the natural child of a living or deceased NH must meet the following requirements:

• The child must have resided in the U. S. for 5 or more years as the child of the parent on whose earnings record entitlement is based; or

• The parent on whose earnings record the child is entitled and other parent (if any, See (RS 02610.035) - Determining the Other Parent) must each have either resided in the U.S. for 5 or more years or died while residing in the U.S.

NOTE: The statement, “or Died while residing in the U.S.” refers only to the NH. It was put in the law to enable surviving children who could not meet the 5 year residency on their own, to be deemed to meet it on the account of a deceased NH who was currently insured because the NH did not reside in the U.S. for at least 5 years before his/her death. It does not refer to a parent other than the NH since, by definition, the “other parent” must be a living parent. Therefore, any “other parent” who has died, whether in the U.S., or outside the U.S., would not be considered when deeming the 5 year residency requirement to a child. A parent’s or child’s residence in the U.S. after the NH dies may be counted toward the 5 year period of residence.

[NancyL]

playbgnow -- did your older friend ever serve in the U.S. military, even for a short time? If it was during a "wartime period", then he may be entitled to a low income veterans pension (which he may not qualify for because he already has SS income), but more importantly, his widow may be able to claim a low-income widows pension after his death.

A widow doesn't need to have lived in the U.S. to claim this VA pension. It's a little-known VA benefit because most veterans think that VA pension and survivors benefits are available only to those who made a career in the military:

http://www.benefits.va.gov/pension/vetpen.asp

If your friend served in the U.S. military, he should check the above link to see if he served during a "specified wartime period" and then get the ball rolling NOW to help his wife. Get his documents in order -- basically fill out the application for the pension now. It will probably be rejected because his income is too high, but at least they'll have established a case file for him that his wife can reference after his death.

Better that than for her to have to start from scratch in requesting his military records and records of his previous marriages and divorces.

Also, he should obtain a ITIN for her (the equivalent of a Social Security number for foreigners) because she'll need this to be able to start receiving widow's benefits. https://www.irs.gov/individuals/general-itin-information

I know Thai widows who are leaving this money unclaimed because they can't face the task of claiming it -- they have no idea of how to obtain their late husband's military records or records of previous marriages/divorces or how to obtain an ITIN for themselves.

[Spaniel]

playbgnow -- did your older friend ever serve in the U.S. military, even for a short time? If it was during a "wartime period", then he may be entitled to a low income veterans pension (which he may not qualify for because he already has SS income), but more importantly, his widow may be able to claim a low-income widows pension after his death.

A widow doesn't need to have lived in the U.S. to claim this VA pension. It's a little-known VA benefit because most veterans think that VA pension and survivors benefits are available only to those who made a career in the military:

http://www.benefits.va.gov/pension/vetpen.asp

If your friend served in the U.S. military, he should check the above link to see if he served during a "specified wartime period" and then get the ball rolling NOW to help his wife. Get his documents in order -- basically fill out the application for the pension now. It will probably be rejected because his income is too high, but at least they'll have established a case file for him that his wife can reference after his death.

Better that than for her to have to start from scratch in requesting his military records and records of his previous marriages and divorces.

Also, he should obtain a ITIN for her (the equivalent of a Social Security number for foreigners) because she'll need this to be able to start receiving widow's benefits. https://www.irs.gov/individuals/general-itin-information

I know Thai widows who are leaving this money unclaimed because they can't face the task of claiming it -- they have no idea of how to obtain their late husband's military records or records of previous marriages/divorces or how to obtain an ITIN for themselves.

Good info. I helped my friends widow file for this bennie when he died a couple of years ago. She was collecting around $670 per month. A good place to start would be to call the US military Retiree Office at JUSMAG and they can give you some basic info how to get started, I don't have their direct number but one can reach them by calling the US Embassy, 02 5044000 and ask for JUSMAG, then the retiree office. They are only there 3 days a week.

[Sawan Chan 7]

Of course the US government would make sure a 70 year old man couldn't marry a Thai 20 y/o so she could claim 60 odd years of his pension.

[Boon Mee]

She would need 5 years of permanent residency or have US citizenship to get survivor benefits.

That's as it works from my research too.

When my wife heard she wasn't going to collect my SS when I kicked off (& we were in the states at that time) she said: "Where's that form. I'm going to get Naturalized"!

[taxout]

"Of course the US government would make sure a 70 year old man couldn't marry a Thai 20 y/o so she could claim 60 odd years of his pension."

No, the Federal government applies the law strictly, but it applies the law regardless of the outcome.

As of 2014, at least, the child of a Civil War veteran was still receiving benefits. And 16 widows and children of Spanish-American War veterans were receiving benefits.

http://time.com/95195/civil-war-pensioner/