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Her husband earned his pension. He died before he was able to collect on it. Since they were married when he passed away, the money was supposed to be theirs. She isn't collecting alimony. This was money earned that was supposed to support them in their retirement. If they had divorced - that's different. I think it depends then on how long they were married for.
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Originally Posted by timberline742
But if the clause of the pension is that if the person marries again they lose that pension (so it is only earned with conditions), and then they effectively partner as if they are married, but technically do not in order to circumvent the rules, it isn't technically fraud, but it may be considered acting in a fraudulent manner.
I believe the OP is referring to her late husband's social security benefits, which you have to be a certain age to collect in the first place, and you will lose if you remarry before the age of 60, unless you are caring for your late spouse's dependent child. You also have to have been married for 10 years to collect the benefits.
LH's aunt died a month after he did from cancer. Her hubby was not eligible for her benefits because they had not been married for 10 years. Her kids were not eligible for them either because they are adults. So no one gets them.
My dad died in 2004; again, my brother and I were too old to collect his benefits and he was (thankfully!) not married at the time of his death. My parents divorced when I was 9. However, they were married for 10 years and when she went to apply for her SS benefits found out she could collect Dad's because she met the requirements for length of marriage, even though they'd been divorced for 30 years.
People do Marry because they are not chasing money they really should not be getting because of prior circumstances.
They want to be Married because they love their partner and do not want to live with them without Marriage or have an affair.
Whether widows and widowers should receive survivor benefits is irrelevant to the debate.
I know someone whose pension is about $120K a year. If he passes before his wife, and she continued to receive that and would lose it if she remarried (I don't know if she would), she would be an absolute idiot to remarry.
Separated from an abusive alcoholic and now it is dear departed.
Must be a nice pension to heal the wounds.
Heck, she put up with his crap all those years? She deserves every penny she gets, taxpayer-funded or no. Cops don't rank high on my list these days, but LEO spouses deal with a lot of garbage spouses in the private sector don't, even when there isn't alcoholism or abuse involved. And a lot of people become civil servants because of the benefits and pension.
OP, if it's a good amount of money, don't give it up. Enjoy the rest of your life on the money.
If I remarry I lose all my survivor benefits from my dearly departed husband. Would anybody actually remarry and lose all this? That seems totally crazy to me, but, I'm curious do people actually do that?
Because they will lose benefits if married, some couples have a religious ceremony or similar but not a civil ceremony. A civil ceremony is recognized as legal and valid under the law. A religious ceremony is not considered legally binding under the law. The "religious" ceremony doesn't have to be religious, it can be a non-religious ceremony (which wouldn't be legally binding under the law). This is not uncommon at all.
Never said she didn't deserve it, but calling him "my dear departed" is a bit disingenuous.
Maybe. But in her other thread she did say she felt sad for him and had wanted his life to go a better way after they split up.
Here's something related: My ex-SO is in law enforcement. One of his coworkers died a few years ago. At the time, he had been separated from his wife for several years--I think it was 6 or 7. I don't know the specifics, but I would wager that if they divorced, she'd have tried to take half of his pension. (That happened to someone else at the job.) The fellow had been in a relationship with someone else for almost as long as he'd been separated.
When he died, his wife got his benefits, even though they hadn't even spoken in years other than about the kids--she lived out of state--and the woman he was with all that time got nothing unless he had a separate life insurance policy and put her in it or something. I felt bad for her.
So there's a flipside to this. Would people stay married to keep all of a pension? The guy was young, late 40s I believe, and probably had no reason to suspect he'd die before retirement. He probably figured he'd just stay legally married and enjoy his money when he retired. By then his kids would be adults, so he wouldn't have to worry about child support. The main issue would be whether his ex filed for divorce then, but by then the separation would be so long that no court would award her the money.
Here's something related: My ex-SO is in law enforcement. One of his coworkers died a few years ago. At the time, he had been separated from his wife for several years--I think it was 6 or 7. I don't know the specifics, but I would wager that if they divorced, she'd have tried to take half of his pension. (That happened to someone else at the job.) The fellow had been in a relationship with someone else for almost as long as he'd been separated.
He probably figured he'd just stay legally married and enjoy his money when he retired. By then his kids would be adults, so he wouldn't have to worry about child support. The main issue would be whether his ex filed for divorce then, but by then the separation would be so long that no court would award her the money.
She wouldn't have to try too hard. Any pension accrued during marriage (even one he's not eligible to withdraw from) is considered community property.
She wouldn't have to try too hard. Any pension accrued during marriage (even one he's not eligible to withdraw from) is considered community property.
Well, everything in California is community property. In New York, the other fellow's wife had to fight for it.
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