Survivors Benefits

SocialSecurity.gov
What’s inside
The importance of Social Security
survivors insurance 1

If you’re working...what you need to know

about survivors benefits 1

When a relative dies...what you need

to know about survivors benefits 5

Contacting Social Security 9

The importance of Social Security
survivors insurance
The loss of the family wage earner can be devastating
both emotionally and financially. Social Security helps by
providing income for the families of workers who die.
This booklet gives you an overview of Social Security
survivors benefits paid to the spouses and children of
workers who die. This booklet isn’t intended to answer all
the questions you may have. For more information about
Social Security’s survivors benefits, visit our website, or
call our toll-free numbers.

If you’re working...what you need

to know about survivors benefits
“Life insurance” from Social Security
Many people think of Social Security only as a retirement
program. But some of the Social Security taxes you pay
go toward survivors benefits for workers and their families.
In fact, the value of the survivors benefits you have under
Social Security is probably more than the value of your
individual life insurance.
When you die, certain members of your family may be
eligible for survivors benefits. These include widows,
widowers (and divorced widows and widowers), children,
and dependent parents.
How do I earn survivors benefits?
As you work and pay Social Security taxes, you earn
credits toward your Social Security benefits. The number
of years you need to work for your family to be eligible for
Social Security survivors benefits depends on your age
when you die. The younger you are, the fewer years you
need to have worked. But no one needs more than 10
years of work to be eligible for any Social Security benefit.

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Under a special rule, if you’ve worked for only one and
one-half years in the three years just before your death,
we can pay benefits to your children and your spouse who
is caring for the children.
Who can get survivors benefits based on
your work?
• Your widow or widower may be able to get full
benefits at full retirement age. The full retirement age
for survivors is age 66 for people born in 1945-1956.
And the full retirement age will gradually increase to
age 67 for people born in 1962 or later. Your widow
or widower can get reduced benefits as early as age
60. If your surviving spouse is disabled, benefits
can begin as early as age 50. For more information
on widows, widowers, and other survivors, visit
www.socialsecurity.gov/survivorplan.
• Your widow or widower can get benefits at any age
if they take care of your child younger than age 16 or
disabled, who’s receiving Social Security benefits.
• Your unmarried children, younger than age 18
(or up to age 19 if they’re attending elementary or
secondary school full time), can also get benefits.
Your children can get benefits at any age if they
were disabled before age 22. Under certain
circumstances, we can also pay benefits to your
stepchildren, grandchildren, stepgrandchildren, or
adopted children.
NOTE: Disabled children whose parents have limited
income and resources may be eligible for Supplemental
Security Income benefits. For more information read
the publication, Benefits for Children With Disabilities
(Publication No. 05-10026).
• Your dependent parents can get benefits if they’re
age 62 or older. (For your parents to qualify as

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 dependents, you must have provided at least half of
their support.)
Benefits for surviving divorced spouses
If you’ve been divorced, your former wife or husband
age 60 or older (50-59 if disabled) can get benefits,
if your marriage lasted at least 10 years. Your former
spouse, however, doesn’t have to meet the age or
length-of-marriage rule if they take care of your child who
is younger than age 16 or disabled, and entitled on your
record. The child must be yours and your former spouse’s
natural or legally adopted child.
Benefits paid to you as a surviving divorced spouse won’t
affect the benefit rates for other survivors getting benefits
on the worker’s record. If you’re the surviving divorced
mother or father, with the worker’s child under age 16 or
disabled in your care, your benefit can affect the benefits
of others on the record.
One-time death payment
We make a one-time payment of $255 when you die, if
you’ve worked long enough. We can only pay this benefit
to your spouse or child if they meet certain requirements.
Survivors must apply for this payment within two years of
the date of death.
How much are benefits?
How much your family can get from Social Security
depends on your average lifetime earnings. The more you
earned, the more their benefits will be.
Check your Social Security Statement to see an
estimate of survivors benefits we could pay. It also
shows an estimate of your retirement and disability
benefits, and provides other important information.
Create a my Social Security account online to review
your Statement.

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Online my Social Security account
You can now easily set up a secure online
my Social Security account. This allows you to access
your Social Security Statement to check your earnings
and get your benefit estimates. You can also use
your online my Social Security account to request a
replacement Social Security number card (available in
some states and the District of Columbia). If you receive
benefits, you can also:
• Get your benefit verification letter;
• Change your address and phone number;
• Request a replacement Medicare card;
• Get a replacement SSA-1099 or SSA-1042S for tax
season; or
• Start or change your direct deposit.
You can create a my Social Security account if you’re
age 18 or older, have a Social Security number, a valid
U.S. mailing address, and an email address. To create
an account, go to www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount.
You’ll need to provide some personal information
to confirm your identity; you’ll be asked to choose a
username and password; then you’ll be asked for your
email address. You’ll need to select how you would like
to receive a one-time security code — to a text-enabled
cell phone or to the email address you registered — that
you will need to enter when you create your account.
Each time you sign in with your username and password,
we will send a one-time security code to your cell phone
or to your email address. The security code is part of
our enhanced security feature to protect your personal
information. Keep in mind that your cell phone provider’s
text message and data rates may apply.

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When a relative dies...what you need
to know about survivors benefits
How do I apply for benefits?
If you’re not currently getting Social
Security benefits
Apply for survivors benefits promptly because, for some
claims, we’ll pay benefits from the time you apply and not
from the time the worker died.
You can apply by telephone or at any Social Security
office. We’ll need certain information, but don’t delay
applying if you don’t have everything. We’ll help you get
what you need. We need either original documents or
copies certified by the agency that issued them.
The information we need includes:
• Proof of death — either from a funeral home or
death certificate;
• Your Social Security number, and the
deceased worker’s SSN;
• Your birth certificate;
• Your marriage certificate, if you’re a widow
or widower;
• Your divorce papers, if you’re applying as a divorced
widow or widower;
• Dependent children’s Social Security numbers, if
available, and birth certificates;
• Deceased worker’s W-2 forms or federal self-
employment tax return for the most recent year; and
• The name of your bank and your account number
so your benefits can be deposited directly into
your account.

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If you’re already getting Social Security benefits
If you’re getting benefits as a wife or husband based
on your spouse’s work, we’ll change your payments to
survivors benefits when you report the death to us. If we
need more information, we’ll contact you.
If you’re getting benefits based on your own work, call
or visit us. We’ll check to see if you can get more money
as a widow or widower. If so, you’ll get a combination
of benefits that equals the higher amount. You must
complete an application to switch to survivors benefits.
We also need to see your spouse’s death certificate.
How much will I receive?
We base the benefit amount on the earnings of the person
who died. The more the worker paid into Social Security,
the greater your benefits will be.
Social Security uses the deceased worker’s basic benefit
amount to calculate the percentage survivors can get.
The percentage depends on the survivor’s age and
relationship to the worker. If the worker who died was
getting reduced benefits, we’ll base your survivor’s benefit
on that amount. In most typical claims for benefits:
• A widow or widower, at full retirement age or older,
generally gets 100 percent of the worker’s basic
benefit amount;
• A widow or widower, age 60 or older, but under full
retirement age, gets about 71-99 percent of the
worker’s basic benefit amount;
• A widow or widower, any age, with a child younger
than age 16, gets 75 percent of the worker’s
benefit amount; or
• A child gets 75 percent of the worker’s benefit amount.

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Maximum family benefits
There’s a limit to the benefits we can pay to you and
other family members each month. The limit varies
between 150 and 180 percent of the deceased worker’s
benefit amount.
Pensions from work not covered by
Social Security
If you get a pension from work for which you paid Social
Security taxes, that pension won’t affect your Social
Security benefits. However, if you get a retirement or
disability pension from work not covered by Social
Security — for example, the federal civil service,
some state or local government employment, or work
in a foreign country — we may reduce your Social
Security benefit.
For more information, read Government Pension Offset
(Publication No. 05-10007) for government workers
who may be eligible for Social Security benefits on the
earnings record of a spouse. Read Windfall Elimination
Provision (Publication No. 05-10045) for people who
worked in another country, or government workers who
are also eligible for their own Social Security benefits.
What if I work?
If you work while getting Social Security survivors benefits
and are younger than full retirement age, we may reduce
your benefits if your earnings exceed certain limits. The
full retirement age for survivors is 66 for people born in
1945-1956. The full retirement age will gradually increase
to age 67 for people born in 1962 or later. To find out
what the earnings limits are this year and how earnings
above those limits reduce your Social Security benefits,
read How Work Affects Your Benefits (Publication
No. 05-10069).

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There’s no earnings limit beginning with the month you
reach full retirement age.
Also, your earnings will reduce only your benefits, not the
benefits of other family members.
What if I remarry?
Usually, you can’t get widow’s or widower’s benefits if
you remarry before age 60 (or age 50 if you’re disabled).
But remarriage after age 60 (or age 50 if you’re disabled)
won’t prevent you from getting benefit payments based
on your former spouse’s work. And at age 62 or older,
you can get benefits on your new spouse’s work, if those
benefits would be higher.
Right to appeal
If you disagree with a decision made on your claim,
you can appeal it. For an explanation of the steps
you can take, read The Appeals Process (Publication
No. 05-10041).
You can handle your own appeal with free help
from Social Security, or you can choose to have a
representative help you. We can give you information
about organizations that can help you find a
representative. For more information about selecting
a representative, read Your Right to Representation
(Publication No. 05-10075).

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Contacting Social Security
There are several ways to contact Social Security,
including online, by phone, and in person. We’re here to
answer your questions and to serve you. For more than
80 years, Social Security has helped secure today and
tomorrow by providing benefits and financial protection for
millions of people throughout their life’s journey.
Visit our website
The most convenient way to conduct Social Security
business from anywhere at any time, is to visit
www.socialsecurity.gov. There, you can:
• Create a my Social Security account to review your
Social Security Statement, verify your earnings, print
a benefit verification letter, change your direct deposit
information, request a replacement Medicare card, get
a replacement SSA-1099/1042S, and more;
• Apply for Extra Help with Medicare prescription drug
plan costs;
• Apply for retirement, disability, and Medicare benefits;
• Find copies of our publications;
• Get answers to frequently asked questions; and
• So much more!
Call us
If you don’t have access to the internet, we offer many
automated services by telephone, 24 hours a day, 7 days
a week. Call us toll-free at 1-800-772-1213 or at our TTY
number, 1-800-325-0778, if you’re deaf or hard of hearing.
If you need to speak to a person, we can answer your
calls from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. We
ask for your patience during busy periods since you may
experience a higher than usual rate of busy signals and
longer hold times to speak to us. We look forward to
serving you.
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Notes

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Notes

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Social Security Administration | Publication No. 05-10084
ICN 468540 | Unit of Issue — HD (one hundred)
June 2019 (Recycle prior editions)
Survivors Benefits
Produced and published at U.S. taxpayer expense