Social Security: 10084

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Survivors Beneits



Contacting Social Security

Visit our website

Our website, www.socialsecurity.gov , is a valuableresource or inormation about all o Social Security’sprograms. At our website, you also can:

• Apply or certain kinds o beneits;

• Get the address o your local Social Security oice;

• Request important documents, such as a SocialSecurity Statement, a replacement Medicare card

or a letter to conirm your beneit amount; and• Find copies o our publications.

Call our toll-ree numberIn addition to using our website, you also can call

toll-ree at 1-800-772-1213. We can answer speciicquestions rom 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday throughFriday. We can provide inormation by automatedphone service 24 hours a day. I you are dea orhard o hearing, you may call our TTY number,1-800-325-0778.

We treat all calls conidentially. We also want tomake sure you receive accurate and courteous ser-vice. That is why we have a second Social Securityrepresentative monitor some telephone calls.



The importance o Social Securitysurvivors insurance 2

I you are working what you needto know about survivors beneits 2

When a relative dies what you needto know about survivors beneits 5

What’s inside



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The importance o Social Securitysurvivors insurance

The loss o the amily wage earner can be devastating,

both emotionally and inancially. Social Security helpsby providing income or the amilies o workers whodie. In act, 98 o every 100 children could get beneits ia working parent dies. And Social Security pays morebeneits to children than any other ederal program.

This booklet gives you an overview o SocialSecurity survivors beneits paid to the spouse and

children o a worker who dies. This booklet is notintended to answer all the questions you may have.For more inormation about Social Security’s survi-vors program, visit our website or call our toll-ree numbers.

I you are working what you need

to know about survivors benefts

“Lie insurance” rom Social SecurityMany people think o Social Security only as a retire-

ment program. But some o the Social Security taxesyou pay go toward providing survivors insurance orworkers and their amilies. In act, the value o thesurvivors insurance you have under Social Securityis probably more than the value o your individuallie insurance.

When you die, certain members o your amily maybe eligible or survivors beneits. These include wid-ows, widowers (and divorced widows and widowers),children and dependent parents.

S o c i a l S e c u r i t y



How do I earn survivors insurance?As you work and pay Social Security taxes, you

earn credits toward your Social Security beneits.The number o years you need to work or your am-ily to be eligible or Social Security survivors beneitsdepends on your age when you die. The younger youare, the ewer years you need to work. But no oneneeds more than 10 years o work to be eligible orany Social Security beneit.

Under a special rule, i you have worked or onlyone and one-hal years in the three years just beoreyour death, beneits can be paid to your children andyour spouse who is caring or the children.

Who can get survivors beneitsbased on your work?• Your widow or widower may be able to receive

ull beneits at age 65 i born on or beoreJanuary 1, 1940. (The age to receive ull beneitsis gradually increasing to age 67 or widows andwidowers born January 2, 1940, or later.) Reducedwidow or widower beneits can be received as earlyas age 60. I your surviving spouse is disabled, ben-eits can begin as early as age 50. For more inorma-tion on widows, widowers and other survivors, visit

www.socialsecurity.gov/ww &os2.htm.• Your widow or widower can receive beneits at any

age i she or he takes care o your child who is enti-tled to a child’s beneit and is younger than age 16or who is disabled.

• Your unmarried children who are younger than age18 (or up to age 19 i they are attending elementary

or secondary school ull time) also can receive ben-eits. Your children can get beneits at any age ithey were disabled beore age 22 and remain

3w w w . s o c i a l s e c u r i t y . g o v



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disabled. Under certain circumstances, beneits alsocan be paid to your stepchildren, grandchildren oradopted children.

• Your dependent parents can receive beneits i they

are age 62 or older. (For your parents to qualiy asdependents, you would have had to provide at leastone-hal o their support.)

Beneits or surviving divorced spousesI you have been divorced, your ormer wie or hus-

band who is age 60 or older (50-60 i disabled) can get

beneits i your marriage lasted at least 10 years. Yourormer spouse, however, does not have to meet the ageor length-o-marriage rule i he or she is caring or his/her child who is under age 16 or who is disabled andalso entitled based on your work. The child must beyour ormer spouse’s natural or legally adopted child.

Beneits paid to you as a surviving divorced spouse

who meets the age or disability requirement as awidow or widower won’t aect the beneit ratesor other survivors getting beneits on the worker’srecord. However, i you are the surviving divorcedmother or ather who has the worker’s child underage 16 or disabled in your care, your beneit willaect the amount o the beneits o others on the

worker’s record.

How much are beneits?How much your amily can get rom Social Security

depends on your average lietime earnings. Thatmeans the more you have earned, the more their ben-eits will be. You should check your Social Security

Statement, which is sent each year to every workerage 25 or older. The Statement gives an estimate osurvivors beneits that could be paid, as well as anestimate o retirement and disability beneits andother important inormation.




One-time death paymentThere is a one-time payment o $255 that can be

made when you die i you have worked long enough.This payment can be made only to your spouse orchild i they meet certain requirements.

When a relative dies what you need toknow about survivors benefts

How do I apply or beneits?

If you are not currently getting Social Security benefits

You should apply or survivors beneits promptlybecause, in some cases, beneits will be paid rom thetime you apply and not rom the time the worker died.

You can apply by telephone or at any SocialSecurity oice. We will need certain inormation, but

do not delay applying i you do not have everything.We will help you get what you need. We need eitheroriginal documents or copies certiied bythe agency that issued them.

The inormation we need includes:

• Proo o death—either rom a uneralhome or death certiicate;

• Your Social Security number, as well asthe deceased worker’s;

• Your birth certiicate;

• Your marriage certiicate, i you are a widowor widower;

• Your divorce papers, i you are applying as a

divorced widow or widower;• Dependent children’s Social Security numbers,

i available, and birth certiicates;




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• Deceased worker’s W-2 orms or ederal sel-employ-ment tax return or the most recent year; and

• The name o your bank and your account numberso your beneits can be deposited directly into

your account.

If you are already getting Social Security benefits

I you are getting beneits as a wie or husbandbased on your spouse’s work, when you report thedeath to us, we will change your payments to survi-vors beneits. I we need more inormation, we will

contact you.I you are getting beneits based on your own work,

call or visit us, and we will check to see i you can getmore money as a widow or widower. You will receivethe higher beneit, not a combination o the two typeso beneits. You will need to complete an applicationto switch to survivors beneits, and we will need to

see your spouse’s death certiicate.

How much will I receive?The beneit amount is based on the earnings o

the person who died. The more the worker paid intoSocial Security, the greater your beneits will be.

Social Security uses the deceased worker’s basicbeneit amount and calculates what percentage sur-vivors are entitled to. The percentage depends on thesurvivors’ ages and relationship to the worker. Hereare the most typical situations:

• A widow or widower, at ull retirement age orolder, generally receives 100 percent o theworker’s basic beneit amount;

• A widow or widower, age 60 or older, but underull retirement age, receives about 71-99 percento the worker’s basic beneit amount; or




• A widow or widower, any age, with a child youngerthan age 16, receives 75 percent o the worker’sbeneit amount.

• Children receive 75 percent o the worker’s

beneit amount.

Maximum amily beneftsThere is a limit to the beneits that can be paid to

you and other amily members each month. The limitvaries, but is generally between 150 and 180 percento the deceased’s beneit amount.

Pensions rom work not covered bySocial Security

I you get a pension rom work where you paidSocial Security taxes, that pension will not aect yourSocial Security benefts. However, i you get a pensionrom work that was not covered by Social Security—

or example, the ederal civil service, some state orlocal government employment or work in a oreigncountry—your Social Security beneft may be reduced.

For more inormation, ask or Government PensionOffset (Publication No. 05-10007), or governmentworkers who may be eligible or Social Securitybenefts on the earnings record o a spouse; and

Windfall Elimination Provision (Publication No. 05-10045), or people who worked in another country orgovernment workers who also are eligible or theirown Social Security benefts.

What i I work?I you work while getting Social Security survivors

beneits and are younger than ull retirement age,your beneits may be reduced i your earnings exceedcertain limits. (The ull retirement age was 65 or peo-ple born beore 1938 but will gradually increase to 67or people born in 1960 or later.) To ind out what the






Notes




Social Security AdministrationSSA Publication No. 05-10084ICN 468540Unit o Issue - HD (one hundred)August 2007 (Destroy prior editions)

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Social Security: 10084