DON’T Claim Social Security Until You Understand This!

Most couples plan for Social Security based on their own lifespans. What age should I file? When do I break even? How much will I get each month? But when one spouse passes away, Social Security planning doesn’t stop. The surviving spouse may still rely on those benefits for the rest of their life. Let’s look at who is eligible for Social Security survivor benefits, how much you can receive, when to claim, how survivor benefits work with your own Social Security benefit, and the mistakes that could cost you money over your lifetime.

What Are Social Security Survivor Benefits?

Social Security survivor benefits are not the same as spousal benefits or your own retirement benefits. They’re a separate benefit based on your spouse’s work record. They exist to help replace income after a spouse passes away. If your spouse dies, you may be able to receive a monthly benefit based on what they were entitled to. That could be what they were already receiving, or what they would have received had they claimed it at the time of their death.

If your spouse waited past full retirement age to claim Social Security, those delayed retirement credits can carry over to your survivor benefit as well. This is why survivor benefits aren’t just something to think about after a spouse dies. The decisions you and your spouse make about Social Security today can affect how much income the surviving spouse has later.

Who Is Eligible for Social Security Survivor Benefits?

Social Security survivor benefits aren’t limited to a surviving spouse. Depending on your relationship to the person who died, you may be eligible if you’re:

• A surviving spouse: Generally, the marriage must have lasted at least nine months.
• A divorced spouse: You may qualify if the marriage lasted at least 10 years and you didn’t remarry before age 60.
• A dependent child: Children can typically qualify if they’re under age 18, or age 19 if they’re still in high school.
• A dependent parent: This is less common, but parents may qualify if they relied on the deceased person for financial support.

Most of the time, we’re talking about surviving spouses or divorced spouses. However, the rules for children and parents matter too, especially when there are younger dependents.

A dependent child’s survivor benefit can be up to 75% of the deceased parent’s benefit. We’ve seen cases where those benefits have helped fund a child’s college savings while taking a major financial burden off the surviving spouse.

SEE ALSO: How Much Money Can I Give To Kids Without Paying Tax?

How Much Can You Receive in Survivor Benefits?

How much you receive depends in large part on when you claim. If you wait until your full retirement age for survivor benefits, you can receive 100% of your late spouse’s benefit. That’s based on what they were receiving when they died or what they were eligible to receive at the time.

If you claim earlier, your benefit is reduced. At age 60, you may receive roughly 71.5% of your survivor benefit. At age 62, that increases to about 81%. At full retirement age, you can receive 100%.

Remember that any delayed retirement credits your spouse earned also count. If your spouse waited past full retirement age to start Social Security, the larger amount they earned can become the base for your survivor benefit. The original claiming decision is important for both spouses. Waiting to claim a larger Social Security benefit isn’t necessarily only about increasing one person’s monthly check. It can also increase the benefit available to the surviving spouse later.

Your Survivor Benefit and Your Own Benefit Are Separate

Think of your Social Security benefits as two separate tracks. One is your retirement benefit based on your own work record. The other is your survivor benefit based on your spouse’s work record. They run side by side, but the timing decision on one doesn’t automatically affect the other.

For example, you could take your own retirement benefit at age 62. Because you’re claiming early, that benefit would be reduced. But years later, if your spouse passes away and their benefit is higher, you could switch to the survivor benefit. If you’ve reached full retirement age, you could receive 100% of that survivor benefit regardless of when you started your own benefit.

Now, let’s flip that around. If your spouse passes away before you turn 60, you could start taking your survivor benefit at age 60. If you also have a retirement benefit based on your own work history, you could let that benefit continue to grow until age 70. Taking the survivor benefit at 60 doesn’t reduce your own retirement benefit. If you wait until 70 to claim your own benefit, you could still receive 124% of your Primary Insurance Amount.

What Could This Look Like?

Say your survivor benefit at full retirement age would be $3,000 per month. If you take it at age 60, you’d receive about 71.5%, or roughly $2,145 per month. Meanwhile, you let your own retirement benefit continue growing in the background. By age 70, that benefit might be worth $3,500 per month. You could collect $2,145 per month from age 60 to age 70. That’s a full decade of income and almost $260,000 in survivor benefits.

Then, at age 70, you switch to your own $3,500 monthly retirement benefit. That’s 10 years of survivor checks while your own benefit quietly builds in the background. If you didn’t take advantage of the survivor benefit during those years, you could be leaving a significant amount of money on the table. Many people miss this opportunity simply because they don’t realize the two benefits are independent. You can’t collect both benefits in full at the same time, but you can sequence them. Depending on your situation, you may be able to start with one benefit and switch to the other later.

What If You’re Divorced?

The rules for divorced spouses can get a little tricky, but they can also be incredibly valuable if you know how they work. If you were married for at least 10 years, you may be able to collect Social Security survivor benefits based on your ex-spouse’s record after they pass away.

Remarriage can affect whether you’re eligible:

• If you haven’t remarried before age 60, you can collect survivor benefits based on your ex-spouse’s record.
• If you remarry after age 60, you’re still eligible to collect survivor benefits based on your ex-spouse’s record.
• If you remarry before age 60, you generally lose eligibility for those survivor benefits unless that later marriage ends.

What Happens If You’re Still Working?

This one surprises people. If you’re under full retirement age and still working, the Social Security earnings test applies to survivor benefits just like it does to regular retirement benefits.

For 2026, the earnings limit is $24,480 per year. Only earned income counts toward that limit. Dividends and interest don’t count. If you earn more than the limit, Social Security will withhold $1 in benefits for every $2 you earn above it. Once you reach full retirement age, the earnings test no longer applies. This doesn’t necessarily mean you should wait to claim. It means you need to look at your earnings and understand how they could affect the benefit before making the decision.

SEE ALSO: 4 Retirement Traps No One Tells You About

Four Survivor Benefit Mistakes to Avoid

Survivor benefits give you several options, but those options can also make the claiming decision more complicated. Here are four mistakes we see people make.

Mistake #1: Claiming Too Early

A lot of people rush to file for survivor benefits at age 60 simply because they can. What they may not realize is that the reduction in benefits is permanent.

If you can wait until full retirement age, you can receive 100% of your survivor benefit for the rest of your life. Of course, that doesn’t mean everyone should wait. As we discussed earlier, you may have another strategy in place, such as taking your survivor benefit early while allowing your own retirement benefit to grow.

Mistake #2: Not Coordinating With Your Own Benefit

Too many people think they have to choose between their survivor benefit and their own retirement benefit and stick with that choice forever. You don’t. You can’t stack the two benefits, but you can sequence them. You can start with one benefit and switch to the other later. For example, you may take a survivor benefit first while allowing your own retirement benefit to grow. Later, you can switch to your own benefit if it becomes the higher of the two. Coordinating the timing of these benefits can dramatically increase the amount of Social Security you receive over your lifetime.

Mistake #3: Misunderstanding the Remarriage Rule

The third mistake is misunderstanding what happens to your survivor benefits if you remarry.

• Remarry before age 60: You generally lose eligibility for survivor benefits based on your former spouse’s record unless that later marriage ends.
• Remarry after age 60: You can still remain eligible for the survivor benefit.

Mistake #4: Thinking Survivor Benefits Keep Growing

Your own Social Security retirement benefit can earn delayed retirement credits when you wait beyond full retirement age to claim. Survivor benefits don’t work that way. Your survivor benefit reaches its maximum at full retirement age. There are no delayed retirement credits for waiting beyond that point.

So, if you’ve reached full retirement age and you’re delaying your survivor benefit because you think it will continue growing, you’re simply leaving money on the table. The delayed retirement credits you can earn by waiting to claim your own retirement benefit do not apply to Social Security survivor benefits.

How Do You Apply for Social Security Survivor Benefits?

Unlike regular Social Security retirement benefits, you usually can’t apply for survivor benefits online. You’ll need to call Social Security or visit your local Social Security office to apply.

Bring these documents:

• Death certificate
• Marriage certificate
• Birth certificate
• Social Security numbers for both spouses
• Proof of age and identity

Once your application is processed and approved, your first payment will typically arrive the following month. Future payments will then follow the regular Social Security payment schedule.

Plan Social Security With the Bigger Picture in Mind

Social Security decisions shouldn’t be made automatically. When we help couples build a strategy, we’re not only thinking about who should claim first. We’re also thinking about what happens to the surviving spouse. When one spouse passes away, one Social Security check disappears, and the surviving spouse generally keeps the higher benefit. Household income can drop significantly, while living expenses may not.

At Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors, we help couples make Social Security decisions as part of a broader retirement plan. If you’d like help understanding your options and how Social Security survivor benefits fit into your plan, contact us to schedule a conversation. 

Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors, LLC is a registered investment advisor with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). This material is intended for informational purposes only. It should not be construed as legal or tax advice and is not intended to replace the advice of a qualified attorney or tax advisor.