How You Will Proceed With Social Security Survivor Benefits After Your Spouse Passes Away

When Social Security was initially established, it only paid retirement income to workers who qualified. It was later amended to include benefits for spouses and survivors, that made it more of a family or insurance program, instead of just a retirement plan.

Regrettably, it is inevitable that many husbands and wives will find themselves widowed during their retirement. This is not only a huge loss emotionally, but can be a major loss financially as well, especially since the survivor will lose the money earned by the spouse that has died.

The Social Security survivor benefit was created to ensure that the surviving spouse wouldn't lose all of their income when the first spouse passes. Actually, the survivor income is 100% of the spouse's benefit before he or she passed. Assuming that both spouses are currently receiving Social Security, if the spouse with the higher amount of Social Security dies first, the spouse with the lower income will get an increase in her income. However if the spouse with the lower benefit passes first, the surviving spouse's benefit will not alter.

There are some rules in order to qualify for Social Security death benefits: The couple must have been married for no less than 9 months before the spouse's death, except if his death was a result of an accident. Also, separated spouses may qualify for widow's benefits as long as they were married for at least 10 years.

Widows can apply for survivor benefits beginning at age 60, or age 50 if they are disabled. Just like with retirement and spousal benefits, the widow may not want to start collecting at age 60 because the benefit will be decreased for every month received before attaining full retirement age. A widow can hope to get anywhere from 71.5% to 100% of her deceased spouse's benefit depending on how old she is when she starts collecting the survivor benefit.

It's essential to note that as a widow you will receive the survivor benefit or your own benefit, whichever is higher. So your benefit will go up if your spouse's benefit was higher than your own, however you will still miss one benefit, so your total benefit from Social Security could be 1/3 to 1/2 lower than it was before your spouse passed.

An option to help optimize your total benefits assuming your spouse passes before you reach full retirement age is to start collecting widow's benefits when your spouse passes (assuming you are more than age 60 or your are age 50 and crippled), then switch to your own benefit once you reach your full retirement age. This will allow your own retirement benefits to keep on earning credits and therefore will increase your retirement benefit. Or, if the survivor benefit is significantly higher than your own benefit, you could apply for your own benefit early, then switch to the survivor benefit when you attain full retirement age.

You may apply for Social Security widow benefits right away after a family member has passed. To do so, you can call the Social Security Administration or visit the office nearby to you. It's important to know how Social Security survivor benefits work so you can maximize your retirement income, especially after the loss of a loved one.

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