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Social Security Mother's or Father's Insurance Benefits
Managing Agency U.S. Social Security Administration http://www.socialsecurity.gov

Program Description

These are benefits paid to the surviving spouse or surviving divorced spouse of an insured worker.

To qualify for this benefit program, you must meet all of the following requirements:

  • Be unmarried
  • Meet the marriage duration requirement
  • Have in your care the deceased's child who is under age 16 or disabled and entitled to child's insurance benefits (for a surviving divorced mother or father the child must be their natural or legally adopted child)
  • Not be entitled to a higher Social Security retirement benefit on your own record
  • Not be entitled to a widow's or widower's benefit
  • Be finally divorced from the deceased worker.

Your Next Steps

The following information will lead you to the next steps to apply for this benefit.

Application Process

If you would like to find out if you may be eligible for any of the benefits SSA administers, visit http://best.ssa.gov.

Once you have completed the eligibility screening questionnaire, you will be provided with a list of benefits for which you may be eligible. Print this page for your records before going to the application site.

Once you know which benefits you can apply for, go to http://www.socialsecurity.gov/appl yonline/ to apply online.

You can also call 1-800-772-1213 (TTY: 1-800-325-0778) for additional information about SSA benefits and for application information.

Program Contact Information

For more information on this and any SSA benefit, call:
1-800-772-1213 (TTY: 1-800-325-0778)
Visit our Publications page for detailed information about SSA programs and policies:
http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/