Social Security Benefits for Child (father died before the child was born and was not married to the mom)?

[muireach]

my boyfriend and i were engaged and we found out i was pregnant so we were planning the wedding so we would be married before our child was born but a month after we found out i was pregnant my boyfriend died. he was at a friends and had a headache and his friends brother in law said here take these they will help well long story short it was drugs and i woke up the next day to my boyfriend dead. now i have a two year old daughter and i live in my moms basement and shes making us move out i work a $9 an hour job and i have debt no one will accept me into apartments with my debt and i cant pay off my debt with a kid and only $9 an hour! i need help and dont know what to do! im 22 and i live in Wisconsin! idk if it matters at all but my daughters father was from Illinois he moved up here 6 months before he passed away! if anyone knows of a way i can get social security benefits or any other houseing or money help plz let me kno!! thank you!!

[cinnard]

Visit the SSA (Social Security Administration). State does not matter since SSA is a federal agency. Your daughter would have been eligible for SS benefits from the time she was born, assuming he qualified (i.e. worked). It makes no difference whether or not you were married or he died before she was born, she is still his surviving child.

Anything else would be welfare. Visit the agency that handles that in your area.

[broehain61]

Talk to the Social Security office. They can help you apply for benefits. Being that you are unmarried, you may have to prove paternity. In addition, if you are running into a hassle with WI for welfare benefits for your child because you have not yet been able to determine paternity, ask for the exemption. You may have to request this from the supervisors because the workerbees are probably told not to mention that an exemption is available for those who cannot prove paternity due to circumstances.