janee
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Post by janee on Apr 13, 2019 7:57:36 GMT -5
Hi All,
Sadly, our nephew passed away from lung cancer at the age of 49. He leaves a wife and two sons, ages 19 and 16. The oldest is a freshman in college, the younger one is a junior in high school.
I want to try to help our niece by giving her some info on Social Security. She is in her late 40's. Is she eligible to receive Social Security now on his record? Money is very tight for them. I am sure they are facing bankruptcy and any money coming in now will be a huge help.
Our nephew worked two jobs (sometimes three) this whole life but nothing that offered a pension.
Thanks so much for any help!
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oped
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Post by oped on Apr 13, 2019 8:01:54 GMT -5
Others who know more will ring in but I’m pretty sure at least the 16 year old would get survivors benefits. They had no life insurance?
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Peace77
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Post by Peace77 on Apr 13, 2019 8:18:34 GMT -5
She can apply for the one time death benefit. Last time I helped someone apply it was $255.
The above post is correct. The 16 year old is eligible for survivors benefits so she can collect that. Not sure if there is an exception for a college student.
Unless she is disabled, she won’t be able to collect his benefits early.
Sometimes, bank or credit unions offer small life insurance policies to account holders. Check with his bank or credit union to see if he had a policy. Did any of his employers have a policy?
Does she have valuables that can be sold?
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andi9899
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Post by andi9899 on Apr 13, 2019 8:49:09 GMT -5
I second checking with both employers. I have 2 jobs and both of them provide free life insurance. Even my PT one. They automatically enrolled me since it's free. I had the option to get more at a cheap rate, but I have tons of life insurance, so I never take it. Maybe he took it this last open enrollment period since he knew he was sick. You don't have to prove insurability with employer sponsored plans.
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janee
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Post by janee on Apr 13, 2019 9:39:19 GMT -5
Thanks all for the responses. No life insurance (at least if they would have had to pay), but I will check the jobs. His main employer was incredibly decent and kept him the insurance and payroll even though he was out quite often this year with chemo treatments.
Very tough situation while they are grieving.
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saveinla
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Post by saveinla on Apr 13, 2019 10:11:38 GMT -5
Very sorry to hear about your nephew.
Credit Unions usually offer free life insurance to members for 1000/2000$. Nothing to pay for that. If he had a credit union account, then he will have some insurance.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2019 11:00:42 GMT -5
Thanks all for the responses. No life insurance (at least if they would have had to pay), but I will check the jobs. Definitely do that- life insurance is a fairly cheap employee benefit so many employers provide it at no cost to the employee, sometimes with the option to buy more if you pay for it.
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countrygirl2
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Post by countrygirl2 on Apr 13, 2019 11:01:32 GMT -5
Yep, I would check everywhere most of our accounts have a little something for life insurance.
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tallguy
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Post by tallguy on Apr 13, 2019 12:18:56 GMT -5
As I understand it, a surviving spouse is in fact eligible for benefits at any age if they are caring for the decedent's child, but only if the child is under 16. It apparently would not apply in this case, and the benefits would end when they turned 16 anyway. The child is eligible until age 18, or 19 if they are a full-time student in an elementary or secondary school. link
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Apr 14, 2019 6:22:07 GMT -5
She needs to be 60 and the minor gets benefits until 18. Very sad situation.
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Wisconsin Beth
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Post by Wisconsin Beth on Apr 14, 2019 10:01:10 GMT -5
Thanks all for the responses. No life insurance (at least if they would have had to pay), but I will check the jobs. Definitely do that- life insurance is a fairly cheap employee benefit so many employers provide it at no cost to the employee, sometimes with the option to buy more if you pay for it. Yeah, mine and my DH's are some ratio of our annual salaries for free. I think we did have to opt in but it's been so long since either of us had a new employer that I'm not sure how it works nowadays.
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on Apr 14, 2019 10:48:19 GMT -5
Condolences Janee Very sad for someone so young especially. I think she can get benefits for caring for a minor child until the younger one is 18. My ss statement has a payment for minor child, and a payment for spouse caring for minor child and then a max family benefit. In any event, a trip to the SS offices are needed, they will tell her for sure. But after 18 for the younger, she will have to be a breadwinner.
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NoNamePerson
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Post by NoNamePerson on Apr 14, 2019 16:43:43 GMT -5
Condolences Janee Very sad for someone so young especially. I think she can get benefits for caring for a minor child until the younger one is 18. My ss statement has a payment for minor child, and a payment for spouse caring for minor child and then a max family benefit. In any event, a trip to the SS offices are needed, they will tell her for sure.
But after 18 for the younger, she will have to be a breadwinner. Don't know about where you are but you can actually call and make an appointment here and go in. I've rarely spent more than 30 minutes when I went to SS office - it was actually easier than trying to get info over the phone or online. And you will get a direct answer to your question.
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tallguy
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Post by tallguy on Apr 14, 2019 17:26:43 GMT -5
I went into my local office a few months ago to clarify my options. They can be very helpful. Not only did they give me the information needed, but they gave me a printout with the current benefit estimate for every month between 60 and FRA on my spouse' record and between 62 and 70 on my own. I can now see on one sheet of paper what my benefit would be no matter when I file on either account. I know what my plan is already, but it is still very interesting to see the details.
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gs11rmb
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Post by gs11rmb on Apr 15, 2019 8:10:15 GMT -5
I'm so sorry for your loss. A quick call by the widow to her late husband's HR office will clear up the matter. My husband doesn't have life insurance through his employer but my employer provides double my annual salary. There are many variations between zero and double and she really needs answers now.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 15, 2019 11:47:44 GMT -5
The only thing she will get is a small payment for the 16-year-old until the month they graduate from HS. After that, they get nothing. The school will have to sign a form telling SSA of the graduation date.
She is entitled to nothing, unless she is already on SSDI herself. This is how I lost most of my income within 3 months of my husband dying.
DH got $1100 per month for him and the kids each got $300. Since he was on medicaid and we did home dialysis 6 days a week, I was paid $8 an hour to do his treatments via the IHSS program.
When he died, I got the $600 for the two kids for 3 months until one graduated. Then I got $300 for the other for the next two years. His payment and the IHSS payments were immediately gone.
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on Apr 15, 2019 18:18:26 GMT -5
The only thing she will get is a small payment for the 16-year-old until the month they graduate from HS. After that, they get nothing. The school will have to sign a form telling SSA of the graduation date. She is entitled to nothing, unless she is already on SSDI herself. This is how I lost most of my income within 3 months of my husband dying. DH got $1100 per month for him and the kids each got $300. Since he was on medicaid and we did home dialysis 6 days a week, I was paid $8 an hour to do his treatments via the IHSS program. When he died, I got the $600 for the two kids for 3 months until one graduated. Then I got $300 for the other for the next two years. His payment and the IHSS payments were immediately gone. had your husband qualified for the standard package of SS benefits?
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lund
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Post by lund on Apr 17, 2019 5:04:14 GMT -5
So sorry to hear about your nephew. The widow needs to apply for the death benefit and benefits for her minor child promptly in order to get the money as soon as possible. The above is assuming that neither the mother nor any of the children are disabled; if somebody is, that may change what she can apply for. Check with all employers if there is some kind of insurance benefit. Check with all financial institutions if there is some kind of insurance benefit. If he belonged to a union or an organization for his occupation, check with them too. If he carried the family health insurance, when will the family be booted? Do they need any check-ups/Rx/treatments? If so, can they afford to go as soon as possible, while still covered? (Teeth and female health are the ones that primarily come to mind. The college student may have access to low-cost insurance through the college - inquire. The HS student might have affordable insurance through the state because of low income - inquire. Try to keep at least catastrophic insurance for all of them.) Some additional talkety-talk from the soapbox, in case there would be some little thing in it that might be of any help - If there is bankruptcy looming, the widow must not to take out any money presently in retirement accounts, if existing. It may be bankruptcy protected, and probably will be the only money left when the situation stabilizes. The creditors will try to make her in order to get their money, and that may result in an IRS bill on top of it all, while there still is too much debt to pay.
- The widow need to make sure to monitor the credit reports for all of them, before and after the bankruptcy, in order to be sure that no debt is forgotten in the bankruptcy (which a good bankruptcy lawyer should help with) nor is "zombified" in the name of one of the sons, which is especially important if there is a jr and sr situation. (Everyone of them is entitled to one free credit report per year from the three bureaus - was it from annualcreditreport dot com? - and these can be staggered to one every four months.)(Save the bankruptcy paperwork in order to be able to prove that a debt was included in case it will resurface years later.)
- The credit report monitoring is coupled to wanting the credit score to increase after bankruptcy and then stay nice and high. Once she is through bankruptcy, she wants her credit score to have grown without any disturbances. If she is ignorant of how a credit score works, she needs to learn, most importantly that there are no quick fixes for it (but a lot of scams).
- .Check if the school offers some low-income help for the HS teen, such as free lunches or some kind of dental or medical check-ups or benefits, or reduced costs for some kind of extra-curricular. Do this promptly, since help may be opt-in, and there may be a queue. If it is possible to save a dollar for better use, it is worth applying. Also tell the teen that one of the best things that he can do is to really work on good grades in school in order to get an education and a good job. Some kind of summer job probably is a good idea; just make sure how a higher household income would affect the bankruptcy in order to make it correctly. (It may be financially beneficial to mow a few lawns for undeclared cash, even if it is probably not allowed.)
- Make sure that the oldest son's economy is not co-mingled with the household in bankruptcy; the college student needs to use any student loans for getting through college (which is probably the very best thing he can do at present) and not loan or give money to the household in bankruptcy even if he wants to be helpful. Also make sure that he does not pay on any parental/household debts, whatever anybody calling says (he should not risk putting himself in a position to assume the debt!). Inform the college of the changed home financial situation. Check if any FAFSA/similar is affected, since he may get more student loans. Also check what happens if he has a summer job potentially increasing the household income, and the family is in bankruptcy. If him moving in with other family (if he's a boarder at college, this may be more of storing a few boxes and getting his mail) or working for the college for reduced tuition would be beneficial, it needs to urgently be planned for. (He needs his income and loans to get himself through college, not to sink it in a bankruptcy that is not his.)
- If the mother is a homeowner, knowing the financial aspects of selling the home or letting it go into foreclosure versus hanging on and staying put through the bankruptcy, provided the mother's household has a reasonable change to afford to do so, is important. If there is a bankruptcy, the family home may have a protected position. If they stay put, is letting somebody a room an option?
- If they need to move, they need to look for new housing as soon as possible, and consider what they need. (Such as, can the sons share a bedroom, so that a 2BR is sufficient? How is their mother's commute to work? Is it best for the family to stay in the same school district until the younger son's HS graduation? Having a garage with room for the car and some storage space probably is good if it is affordable, and so on.)
- They need to start sorting, culling and packing items; they need to do a well organized DIY move where no junk is moved, but no/few useful items are dumped (since they may have practically no money to replace anything). It can be good to keep a good toolbox, and if they will live in a rental house, any necessary garden equipment including the mower. If they are in an area with snow, also the shovels. Mowing or shoveling/snow-blowing can be good ways to earn some extra money quickly, provided they have the space for the equipment. If they need to have their own washer/dryer/refrigerator/...., they need to have a plan for that. If they may need to live with family and have their items stored for a while, pack items according to owner (in case somebody graduates or moves out and needs to get his things), number the boxes on all sides and top and write the owner's name, and have a list of what is in each box (for both being able to find items as needed, for insurance purposes, and, Lord prevent, in case they need to cull the packed items). Packing the most important items separately from the less important can be practical in that case.
- They should make sure that not all items with good memories, like photos, holiday items and childhood mementos (favorite toy, favorite books, favorite wall picture,....), are thrown out/culled when things are sorted before moving. Better times are likely to come when the sons are through school and college and employed, when the items may become mementos from the good times of the boys' childhood. If there is a storage problem, is there some reliable relative who could store a few marked boxes for free?
- Important items long-term may be, in addition to various paperwork (such as, but not limited to, attests, deeds,certificates, exams, taxes, insurance, SS statements, ......), photos and family films, important religious items, some childhood mementos, some seasonal/decorative items, any heirlooms (such as a "grandmother's breadbasket"). These either are important to help make the family's life be smoother (paperwork!) or are irreplaceable.
- The grieving family should consider bringing a friend who is not as close to the situation when going to decide on the funeral. If there is little money, they can't afford more than the bare bones, and absolutely no up-sells! Is cremation and burying the ashes in an already existing family plot or spreading them somewhere suitable a viable option?
- Is there some socially acceptable way to ask people to donate to the funeral costs and the family instead of sending flowers?
- Does the widow have a job? If not, she needs to start looking as soon as possible... In case she has been a homemaker, is there some kind of local "new directions" program that she may benefit from? Or can the unemployment agency people help?
- Even if the widow can get widow's benefits at 60, she probably should plan to work (at least) until her full retirement age; if she and her late husband have not been high earners, she is likely to need every dime of SS she can get in her old age and any savings she can manage to scrape together once this situation is over.
- It is important that the family members stick together and aim for landing on their feet, even if the next years will be very hard, both because of grief and because of the financial situation. The son's aims should be to graduate college (or get other post-HS education or training) and get gainfully employed. The mother needs to try to stay afloat and get through any BK, and unless she has a job, find one, preferably with benefits.
- Can low-cost grief counseling be found somehow?
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Blonde Granny
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Post by Blonde Granny on Apr 17, 2019 6:05:49 GMT -5
Can low-cost grief counseling be found somehow?
+++++
There is a national faith based program called Grief Share. The one I attended was held at a local church, it included dinner provided by the church and the cost was $15 for a 13 week program. It would probably be best if she didn't attempt to try it now as the feelings and emotions are too raw to do much good. I waited over 6 months before attending.
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princessleia
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Post by princessleia on Apr 17, 2019 7:56:52 GMT -5
This is sad news. Offhand, I can think of 2 places straightaway to get help:- 1. Apply for free school meals for the child who is in High School plus any waiver of school fees (or even if they have paid any fees so far to be reimbursed back from school). If the student has any outstanding school meal balance, get the school's nutrition services to have it paid off. Most schools have a Angel Meal Fund to help struggling families. 2. Apply for aid from the state for foodshare, medicaid or medical insurance.
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janee
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Post by janee on Apr 17, 2019 8:29:10 GMT -5
Thank you all for your help. I don't have a lot of info to share. They are off looking at colleges for the younger son. He is top of his class and is on track to be valedictorian (which he thinks will help him with scholarships). He's also president of his class, in ROTC. A very upstanding young man, like his older brother. The older son just got accepted as RA for his sophomore year which means his room and board will be paid for next year (and hopefully subsequent years)
Our nephew was cremated and there will be a memorial service at some later date with family and close friends. There is a gofundme and a private fundraiser set up which was initially for the family to contribute. Many of his friends have heard of it and the info is being passed around. Our other nephew (the brother) is handling that. We will contribute. There had been a fundraiser when he was first diagnosed and missed work for chemo 3 years ago and it raised $14K. I have no idea how much now.
Our niece worked part time at a day care so she has said she will look for a job. She will need benefits. Before the boys came along, she worked two years as a teacher (one year short of tenure) and has her masters. I don't know how hard it will be for her to renew her teaching certificate (or if that what she wants to do).
Thanks again to all for the ideas and detail. Much appreciated!
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Peace77
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Post by Peace77 on Apr 17, 2019 14:15:29 GMT -5
Thank you all for your help. I don't have a lot of info to share. They are off looking at colleges for the younger son. He is top of his class and is on track to be valedictorian (which he thinks will help him with scholarships). He's also president of his class, in ROTC. A very upstanding young man, like his older brother. The older son just got accepted as RA for his sophomore year which means his room and board will be paid for next year (and hopefully subsequent years) Our nephew was cremated and there will be a memorial service at some later date with family and close friends. There is a gofundme and a private fundraiser set up which was initially for the family to contribute. Many of his friends have heard of it and the info is being passed around. Our other nephew (the brother) is handling that. We will contribute. There had been a fundraiser when he was first diagnosed and missed work for chemo 3 years ago and it raised $14K. I have no idea how much now. Our niece worked part time at a day care so she has said she will look for a job. She will need benefits. Before the boys came along, she worked two years as a teacher (one year short of tenure) and has her masters. I don't know how hard it will be for her to renew her teaching certificate (or if that what she wants to do). Thanks again to all for the ideas and detail. Much appreciated. If you're planning to donate, it's best to send a check direct and avoid fees from GoFundme or whatever is being used.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2019 14:55:17 GMT -5
She can apply for the one time death benefit. Last time I helped someone apply it was $255.I don't get why they even do this. It such a piddly amount of money it seems like a joke.
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Peace77
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Post by Peace77 on Apr 17, 2019 15:11:20 GMT -5
She can apply for the one time death benefit. Last time I helped someone apply it was $255.I don't get why they even do this. It such a piddly amount of money it seems like a joke. You are right, it’s an awfully low amount. It used to be $250 and then they raised it a whole $5. Its not even enough to cover half the cost of a cremation.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2019 15:24:02 GMT -5
I don't get why they even do this. It such a piddly amount of money it seems like a joke. You are right, it’s an awfully low amount. It used to be $250 and then they raised it a whole $5. Its not even enough to cover half the cost of a cremation. Yeah, you would think it would be enough to at least cremate the person.
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countrygirl2
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Post by countrygirl2 on Apr 18, 2019 6:46:52 GMT -5
Generally here the funeral home applies for it and applies it against funeral costs.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2019 8:01:24 GMT -5
You are right, it’s an awfully low amount. It used to be $250 and then they raised it a whole $5. Its not even enough to cover half the cost of a cremation. Yeah, you would think it would be enough to at least cremate the person. It probably was- in 1983. DH's cremation 2+ years ago, in a LCOL area, was just under $1,000. That included picking up his body and taking it to the crematorium and filing all the necessary paperwork as well.
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Blonde Granny
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Post by Blonde Granny on Apr 18, 2019 8:14:25 GMT -5
My DH wanted cremation, the total cost was $1700.00, and that included a beautiful handmade oak container. Being buried at a National Cemetery incurred no additional cost.
As with Athena, there was no additional cost for pickup from the VA hospital or filling out of paperwork for the VA and SS.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Apr 18, 2019 9:15:23 GMT -5
I seem to remember my mom’s cremation in 1998 was around $500. I only know that because I was walking my dad through the process as he was in a daze. I have no idea how much my dad’s was in 2015.
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TheOtherMe
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Post by TheOtherMe on Apr 18, 2019 10:48:39 GMT -5
My prepaid cremation cost $2000. That includes picked up the body anywhere in the US and taking it to the nearest crematorium and the paperwork.
Should I pass in this state, the body will be cremated by the company I am using.
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