[kjhm]

If dad is dead, she collects social security for children under 18.
In order to collect assistance she has to tell who the father of her children are, she gets assistance and the feds go after the father for reimbursements of money paid out on her behalf. If she was abused, she can get a waiver from the state about work requirements, and because of the abuse her whereabouts are not reveiled to the abuser.

[MarylandMamaof5]

She would only collect anything from a dead father if paternity were established before he was buried.