Social security benefits and marriage?

I asked this question earlier and only received 1 reply that didnt really answer the question...My husband and his "ex" were never legally married but "lived" together for about 20 years and raised a child who is now 26. Is the the mother qualified to receive benefits on his record even though they were never legally married but did raise a child together who is not a minor anymore?? I have heard that it is possible to receive benefits even if they were not married due to the fact they had a child together.(no longer a minor)..is this true???

Social Security is a federal benefit, not a state benefit. Federal law does not recognize things like common law marriage or other such unions, so irrespective of what state laws say about this matter, she is not entitled to his SS benefits since they were never legally married. Their having a child together is not a contributing factor. The only way she might be entitled to collect on his SS benefits, is if he owed back child support and such a garnishment was ordered by a court, but since you say they lived together for 20 years and raised their son together, I'm assuming this is probably not the case. I doubt you have anything to be concerned about.

It probably depends on if your state has a common law marriage law. If they do,their living together for so long might technically qualify her as a spouse for SS purposes. Just a thought on my end.
In most cases though,I'm pretty sure there has to be a legal marriage for her to collect on his benefits.

I don't believe she is qualified because they were not actually married at any point. Because she had an illegitimate child is not a factor.