Axuarilly Pay

Hi ,I need to find out about axuarilly benifets and if there is such a thing . My husband passed in 2007 he had been on social security since2001. We had and I still have legal custody of our grandsons ages 16 and 12 . They were 6 and 2 when the courts awarded us legal custody of them . This was in 2000. when my husband was approved for SS disability.He asked if there was benifits for the boys we were told no because we would need to legally adopt them . Yet when my husband died I told SS about them and they told me I had to show the court orders and then they would evaluate my case . I did so ,and I recieve SS FOR BOTH BOYS AS WELL AS A MOTHERS BENIFIT because the youngest is under 16 years of age. My question is are we intitled to retroactive money because we were first and mistakenly denide?