>>
>>In the interim a spouse trying to LIVE on 1/2 her deceased husbands SS
>>is
>>up the creek and there are no more paddles he/she can access.
>
>
> The full value of a vested pension is paid to a spouse...

No it's not . At the time of claiming then pension the recipient and their
spouse (because of community property laws) must determine a "split" of the
pension i.e. 50-50. or 75-25 etc. When the one of the partners dies the
survivor is left with the agreed upon remaining percentage. This is the way
the pension funds decrease their future liability and expand the funds upon
the backs of the survivors.

Lets take an example Mr. X gets a pension of 1,000.00 per month.
He and Mrs. X decide to split 50 -50.

When one of the 2 dies the survivor is left with 500.00 per month.

If you add SSI to the mix at the death of one of the partners the potential
is for the household to lose half of their income.

There are strategies to overcome this deficiency.

Dimitri