I am a surviving spouse (married at the time of spouse's death, not a divorcee), so I would like to contribute what I can.
There is indeed a minimum time you must have been married, unless in the case of a prior divorce to this person, which makes it longer. If no children are involved:
Marriage requirement to receive survivors benefits
Updated 05/16/2012 04:24 PM | ID# 395
How long must I be married to collect benefits when a spouse dies?
Generally, a person can qualify for widow's or widower's benefits if he or she was married to the deceased worker for at least nine months just before the worker died. However, you do not need to be married to the worker for any specific length of time if:
(the rest of this pertains to children, institutionalized spouse, and a whole lot else. Google for social security survivor's benefits).
I know, because my friends got married on the fellow's death bed, and she was denied benefits because not married long enough. That was only 2 years ago.
And then, it depends on your age. In my case, my spouse died at age 54. I was 47. He was the higher earner.
I was entitled to survivor's benefits at my age 60, unless I had become disabled. Then the qualifying age is 50.
You only get a portion of the deceased spouse's benefits if you take them earlier than your own full retirement age, which in my case is 66. That percentage ranges from something like 71% and up, depending on what, I don't know.
So, at my age 60, I was entitled to 71% of his benefits, if I chose to take them at that time.
If you wait until your own retirement age, you can have the higher of the two, yours or theirs. If you get theirs, you will get 100% of their benefit, not the reduced rate for taking it earlier. And no, you can't have yours AND theirs.
There is a lot more. Like if you get remarried before age 60...but after age 60, you can get remarried and keep the former spouses's benefits, instead of your own. If the second spouse also dies, you can then choose which one.
In the case of a divorce, you must have been married for at least 10 years to qualify on their record.
Hope I am making sense here. It can get involved, depending on the circumstances.
Then there is the issue of the surviving spouse who is still working, and under full retirement age. You can only earn up to a little more than $14,000 this year, before your SS benefits decrease by $1 for every $2 you earn over the $14,000. They say they just hold it back, and give it to you later, when you are not earning as much, or you attain the age where you can earn all you want, and keep the full SS.
You can call any social security office for particulars, and google for more info. I have found the people in these offices to be helpful and nice people.
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