Survivors Benefits for LGBTQ+ Couples Expanded by SSA Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again. × Search search POPULAR SEARCHES SUGGESTED LINKS Join AARP for just $9 per year when you sign up for a 5-year term. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Leaving AARP.org Website You are now leaving AARP.org and going to a website that is not operated by AARP. A different privacy policy and terms of service will apply. Close
Social Security Expands Survivor Benefit Eligibility for Same-Sex Partners
Seismic change will help older LGBTQ people prevented from marrying by past state laws
KatarzynaBialasiewicz / Getty Images With the Supreme Court’s 2015 recognizing marriage equality for same-sex couples, LGBTQ spouses became as heterosexuals, under the same terms. But those terms continued to freeze out many LQBTQ partners in long-term relationships who had been prevented from marrying — and thus establishing upon their mate’s death — by pre-Obergefell state laws. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. That changed late last year, when the Social Security Administration (SSA) adopted new rules that will qualify many more older LGBTQ people for survivor benefits, and for the late-life financial stability those payments can help provide. “It's no exaggeration to say that this development is seismic in nature,” says Peter Renn, senior counsel at the civil rights group , which filed two class-action lawsuits that led to the changes. “It will make an enormous difference in the everyday lives of thousands of same-sex survivors who were wrongfully denied the benefits for which they paid.” Nine-month marriage rule
In most circumstances, are eligible for benefits based on a late spouse’s earnings if they are 60 or older and had been legally married for at least nine months when their mate died. Depending on their age, survivors can receive between 71.5 percent and 100 percent of what the deceased was entitled to get from Social Security. Strict application of those criteria in the wake of Obergefell meant many LGBTQ survivors could not receive benefits due to state marriage laws the Supreme Court had declared unconstitutional. “There was just a categorical decision by SSA that said, ‘Sorry, you have to be married for nine months and that it was unconstitutional in your state to do so is too bad,’ ” says William Alvarado Rivera, senior vice president for litigation for AARP Foundation, which in cases involving the length-of-marriage requirement. Pet Up to 10% off pet insurance premiums for life See more Pet offers > Legal challenges
Lambda Legal filed lawsuits in 2018 challenging the SSA’s post-Obergefell application of the survivor benefit rules — one , a Washington state woman who lost her partner of 27 years to cancer in 2006, six years before their state legalized same-sex marriage, and one , whose husband and partner of 43 years died seven months after their state, Arizona, recognized marriage equality. The organization argued that the plaintiffs should not be denied survivor benefits because discriminatory state laws prevented them from marrying. Separate U.S. district courts agreed in 2020 rulings. The Trump administration challenged those decisions, but in November 2021 the SSA dropped the appeals and established criteria to weigh benefit claims from LGBTQ survivors. The SSA is encouraging anyone who thinks they might qualify to right away. You cannot apply for survivor benefits online, but you can call 800-772-1213 to file a claim. You can also ask Social Security to reconsider a claim that was denied because you did not meet the marriage requirement due to past state law, in which case you may be able to collect retroactive benefits. Lambda Legal has detailed FAQs on seeking survivor benefits under the and . AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Jacqueline Salmon is a former Washington Post writer and editor an d co-author of the books Playground Politics and The Four-Thirds Solution: Solving the Child-Care Crisis. MORE FROM AARP AARP NEWSLETTERS %{ newsLetterPromoText }% %{ description }% Subscribe AARP VALUE & MEMBER BENEFITS See more Health & Wellness offers > See more Technology & Wireless offers > See more Restaurants offers > See more Home & Real Estate offers > SAVE MONEY WITH THESE LIMITED-TIME OFFERS