Spouses and ex-spouses
Payments start at 71.5% of your spouse's benefit and increase the longer you wait to apply. For example, you might get: Over 75% at age 61.
Who can get Survivor benefits. 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.
The spousal benefit can be as much as half of the worker's "primary insurance amount," depending on the spouse's age at retirement. If the spouse begins receiving benefits before "normal (or full) retirement age," the spouse will receive a reduced benefit.
Your full spouse's benefit could be up to 50 percent of your spouse's full retirement age amount if you are full retirement age when you take it. If you qualify for your own retirement benefit and a spouse's benefit, we always pay your own benefit first.
Surviving spouse, at full retirement age or older, generally gets 100% of the worker's basic benefit amount. Surviving spouse, age 60 or older, but under full retirement age, gets between 71% and 99% of the worker's basic benefit amount.
To qualify, you must have lived with the deceased when they died. However, even if you lived apart when your spouse died, you might still be eligible for the death benefit if you already receive spousal benefits. Survivor benefits are usually paid for life, so it's worth taking the time to estimate your monthly amount.
Have you heard about the Social Security $16,728 yearly bonus? There's really no “bonus” that retirees can collect. The Social Security Administration (SSA) uses a specific formula based on your lifetime earnings to determine your benefit amount.
If your spouse built up entitlement to the State Second Pension between 2002 and 2016, you are entitled to inherit 50% of this amount; PLUS. If your spouse built up entitlement to Graduated Retirement Benefit between 1961 and 1975, you are entitled to inherit 50% of this amount.
Answer: Both your current spouse and your ex could be entitled to survivor benefits based on your work record. Typically someone must be married nine months to qualify for survivor benefits on a current spouse's record. If the spouses divorced, the marriage must have lasted 10 years.
The first exception, which can be deemed as the Social Security spousal benefits loophole, works where an individual who remarries at 60 or later may still be entitled to Social Security survivors' benefits if the second marriage ends before the death of the first spouse.
Impact of remarrying: If you remarry before age 60 (or 50 if disabled), you typically won't be eligible to collect survivor benefits from your former spouse. However, if the subsequent marriage ends, you may become eligible again.
The short version: Spousal benefits are available to retired workers' spouses or ex-spouses. They pay up to 50% of a worker's monthly retirement or disability benefit. Survivor benefits are paid to a surviving spouse or surviving ex-spouse when a Social Security beneficiary dies.
Exactly how much in earnings do you need to get a $3,000 benefit? Well, you just need to have averaged about 70% of the taxable maximum. In our example case, that means that your earnings in 1983 were about $22,000 and increased every year to where they ended at about $100,000 at age 62.
If you've worked and paid taxes into the Social Security system for at least 10 years and have earned a minimum of 40 work credits, you can collect your own benefits as early as age 62.
The result is that only one Social Security monthly retirement benefit will be paid to the surviving spouse. That monthly retirement benefit check will be equal to the higher of: (1) The deceased spouse's Social Security monthly retirement benefit; or (2) The surviving spouse's own monthly retirement benefit.
The widow's penalty occurs when a surviving spouse's tax status reverts from married filing jointly to single. If you're a widow or widower, you can file a joint tax return for the year of your spouse's death.
However, your maximum spouse's benefit remains 50% of their full retirement age benefit, not their higher amount including delayed retirement credits. (Your benefit as a surviving spouse would be based on the higher amount.)
Several factors can disqualify you from receiving survivor benefits, such as: Remarrying before a certain age. Your deceased spouse not having earned enough work credits. Not meeting the SSA definition of a spouse.
What are the rights of a wife when the husband dies? In the absence of a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, a surviving spouse is entitled to half of the community property, overriding the deceased spouse's will or trust stipulations.