The provider’s terms, conditions and policies apply. The most you can collect in spousal benefits is 50 percent of your spouse’s monthly benefit at full retirement age (the age at which a person becomes eligible for 100 percent of the benefit calculated from their lifetime earnings). Find the answers to the most common Social Security questions such as when to claim, how to maximize your retirement benefits and more.Javascript must be enabled to use this site.
If you qualify for retirement benefits on your own record, you can switch to your own retirement benefit as early as age 62. begin receiving benefits as early as age 50 if you are disabled and the disability started before or within seven years of the worker's death. If the eligible surviving spouse or child is not currently receiving benefits, they must apply for this payment within two years of the date of death.A surviving spouse or child may receive a special lump-sum death payment of $255 if they meet certain requirements.For example, if the person died in July, you must return the benefits paid in August. You were born before Jan. 2, 1954. It depends on your age and the type of benefit you are eligible to receive.If the person who died was receiving reduced benefits, we base your survivors benefit on that amount. That person must have worked long enough under Social Security to qualify for benefits.Benefits for a widow, widower, or surviving divorced spouse may be affected by several additional factors:Percentages for a surviving divorced spouse would be the same as above.Generally, the lump-sum is paid to the surviving spouse who was living in the same household as the worker when they died.
)The number of credits needed to provide benefits for survivors depends on the worker's age when they die. Your spouse is collecting his or her own Social Security retirement benefit. Please return to AARP.org to learn more about other benefits.That's because when you are eligible for two kinds of benefit, Social Security does not combine them but rather compares one to the other. If your retirement benefit is higher, you receive that amount. Each person’s situation is different and you need to talk to a Social Security claims representative about your choices.Besides being the natural parent, you could also be the stepparent, or the adoptive parent if you became the deceased worker’s parent before he or she was age 16.Benefits paid to you as a surviving divorced spouse won't affect the benefit amount for other survivors getting benefits on the worker's record.These are examples of the benefits that survivors may receive:If the deceased was receiving Social Security benefits, you must return the benefit received for the month of death and any later months.If there's no eligible surviving spouse, the lump-sum can be paid to the worker's child (or children) if, during the month the worker died, the child:If the sum of the benefits payable to family members is greater than this limit, the benefits will be reduced proportionately. • Available for work. (Any benefits paid to a surviving divorced spouse based on disability or age won't count toward this maximum amount.