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When a Social Security beneficiary dies, his or her spouse may be able to collect survivor benefits. Learn whether you qualify and how to apply.
If you are a widow (or your ex-spouse died), you may be eligible to receive benefits on your late spouse’s, or ex-spouse’s, Social Security record. How much you receive will depend on your age, the amount of benefits you may receive on your own record, and whether you have dependent children.
You may qualify if you’re the spouse, divorced spouse, child, or dependent parent of someone who worked and paid Social Security taxes before they died. See if you're eligible for Survivor benefits.
If your spouse had not yet reached full retirement age, Social Security bases the survivor benefit on the deceased’s primary insurance amount — 100 percent of the benefit he or she would have been entitled to, based on lifetime earnings.
At 60, you can collect 71.5 percent of what your late spouse was getting each month from Social Security (or would have been entitled to get if they died before claiming). The proportion grows incrementally for each month you delay filing until your FRA.
Your surviving spouse can get reduced benefits as early as age 60. If your surviving spouse has a disability, benefits can begin as early as age 50. For more information on survivors benefits, visit. www.ssa.gov/survivorplan.
If the deceased spouse never filed for benefits, but died on or before their full retirement age, the calculation is relatively easy. The survivor receives the deceased’s full retirement age benefit, adjusted for the survivor’s filing age (see chart below).
If you are the unmarried child under age 18 of a worker who dies, you can be eligible to receive Social Security survivors benefits. You can also be eligible, if you are up to age 19 and attending elementary or secondary school full time.
You might be eligible if you’re age 62 or older and were financially supported by your child who died. You might be eligible for Survivor benefits if your spouse, ex-spouse, or parent worked and paid Social Security taxes before they died.
If your deceased spouse DID FILE for benefits BEFORE FULL RETIREMENT AGE, you are entitled to receive what your spouse was receiving or 82.5% of your deceased spouse’s full retirement age...