Nov
23
2010
By Guest (not verified)
My daughter's father died at the age of 20 in November 2002. She was only two months at the time. She is now 8yrs old and she has not recieved any survivor benefits. We were once told that her father didn't have enough quotas for her to receive his benefits. It was also said that he had the money there but not the time(quotas). He was short by one. Is there still a way for her to receive survivor benefits.
Qualifying for survivor's benefits
The number of credits needed to have family members be eligible for survivors benefits depends on his age when he died. The younger you are, the fewer credits you need, but nobody needs more than 40 credits (10 years of work).
Under a special rule, Social Security can pay benefits to your child even if he don't have the number of credits needed. The child can get benefits if the father had credits for one and one-half year's work (6 credits) in the three years just before his death.
If he still didn't qualify under this special rule, you may want to appeal the decision.
http://www.ssa.gov/retire2/credits4.htm
http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10041.html