Sep
05
2012
By Guest (not verified)
My husband and I were common law married in 1982, which was legally recognized in both OK and GA were we lived at the time. When he passed away in 2008, I applied for death benefits and was told that since both states no longer recognized common law marriages that I would be denied benefits unless I could "prove" that we were married. His relatives sent in statements attesting to that fact, and also I had a paper that he signed listing me as his wife. They said that those documents were not "proof". When I applied for my own benefits last month, they stated that I WAS qualified to receive benefits and I received a check this month. My question is, can I applied for back pay based on the fact they denied me the first time?
Backpay for denied survivor claim
It's not clear how old you were at the time of initial denial. If you were under age 62 and eligible for survivor benefits, then I would say it's worth looking into filing a claim for backpay.