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CRITICAL SOCIAL SECURITY NEWS. The Social Security Administration will now accept NEW applications from surviving same-sex partners who were never able to marry at all but can show that they would have been married for at least nine months had there been no discriminatory law barring them from doing so. The district court had originally limited relief to those who had already submitted claims for survivor’s benefits prior to the entry of judgment, despite that most folks would have considered it futile. Now survivors can submit claims for benefits no matter how long ago their loved one passed, no matter whether they applied in the past, and no matter whether they are already receiving their own retirement benefits. BOTTOM LINE: All surviving same-sex partners and spouses formerly barred from meeting the spousal requirements by marriage bans are now able to apply for these benefits, reopen previously-denied claims (even if they did not pursue their appeals), and otherwise be restored to the position they should have been in had there been no discrimination.