How Social Security Spousal and Survivor Benefits Work

Social Security can pay money to a husband, wife, or ex-spouse based on the other person's work record. If you're married, you may be able to get up to half of your spouse's full benefit while they're alive. If your spouse dies, you may be able to step up to a survivor benefit that can equal all of what they were getting. Divorced spouses can qualify too, if the marriage lasted long enough.

This guide explains who qualifies, how much you might receive, and how timing changes the amount. For your own numbers, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is the place to check.

Spousal benefits: what you can get while your spouse is alive

A spousal benefit is a payment based on your husband's or wife's work, not your own. According to SSA's retirement benefits booklet, spouses who never worked or have low earnings can get up to half of a retired worker's full benefit.

To qualify, you generally need to be one of the following:

• A spouse age 62 or older
• A spouse younger than 62 who is caring for a child on the worker's record who is younger than 16 or has a qualifying disability

One rule surprises many couples: your spouse has to file for their own retirement benefit before you can collect on their record. If you're eligible for both your own benefit and a spouse's benefit, SSA always pays your own benefit first. If the spousal amount is higher, you get a combination that adds up to the higher figure.

Here's a hypothetical example. Say your own retirement benefit is 1,000 a month and your spouse's benefit would be 1,400. At full retirement age, you'd get your own 1,000 plus a top-up of 400, for a total of 1,400. You would not get both amounts in full.

Claiming early reduces the amount

Full retirement age (FRA) is the age when you can get your full, unreduced benefit. SSA's retirement age calculator page explains that FRA rises gradually by birth year until it reaches 67 for people born in 1960 or later.

If you start spousal benefits before FRA, they're reduced. SSA gives this example: if FRA is 67, a spouse can get 32.5% of the worker's unreduced benefit at age 62. The amount grows the longer you wait, up to the maximum of 50% at full retirement age.

Waiting past FRA doesn't raise a spousal benefit any further. Delayed retirement credits apply to a worker's own benefit, so check with SSA about how that fits your situation.

Deemed filing

If you were born on or after January 2, 1954 and qualify for both your own and a spouse's benefit, SSA treats an application for one as an application for both. This is called "deemed filing." You can't pick just the spousal benefit and let your own grow.

Divorced spouses

You don't have to be married anymore to collect. SSA says a divorced spouse can receive benefits on an ex-spouse's record if the marriage lasted at least 10 years. The divorced spouse must be 62 or older and unmarried.

A few points that help:

• What you receive doesn't reduce the amount your ex-spouse or their current spouse can get. Your ex isn't told or affected.
• Your ex-spouse doesn't have to have started retirement benefits, as long as you're both at least 62 and have been divorced at least two continuous years.
• You'll need your ex-spouse's Social Security number, or their date and place of birth and their parents' names.

SSA's booklet for women notes that many people may be eligible for a higher benefit based on an ex-spouse's work, especially if the ex-spouse has died. If you've never asked, it's worth a call.

Survivor benefits when a spouse dies

Survivor benefits are for the spouse, divorced spouse, children, or dependent parents of someone who worked and paid Social Security taxes before dying. SSA's survivor benefits page lists these groups.

Who qualifies and when

SSA's survivors booklet explains that a surviving spouse can get reduced benefits as early as age 60, or as early as age 50 if disabled. A surviving spouse can also get benefits at any age while caring for the worker's child who is younger than 16 or has a disability.

A surviving divorced spouse can get benefits at age 60 or older, or age 50 to 59 with a disability, if the marriage lasted at least 10 years. That 10-year rule doesn't apply if the former spouse is caring for the worker's young or disabled child.

How much you could get

The amount is based on what the worker was entitled to. In most typical claims, SSA says a surviving spouse:

Situation	Typical share of the worker's basic benefit
At full retirement age or older	100%
Age 60 up to full retirement age	Between 71% and 99%
Any age, with a child under 16	75%

A family maximum applies too. The limit varies between 150% and 180% of the deceased worker's benefit amount when several family members collect.

Survivor full retirement age is different

The survivor FRA isn't the same as the retirement FRA. SSA says it's 66 for survivors born from 1945 to 1956, rises gradually for those born from 1957 to 1962, and is 67 for anyone born in 1962 or later.

Timing matters if you also have your own benefit

If you get benefits on your own record, SSA will check whether you could get more as a survivor. If so, you get a combination that equals the higher amount. You must complete an application. SSA's women's booklet says to ask a representative to explain your options, since the best choice depends on your ages and amounts.

If the worker was getting reduced benefits when they died, your survivor benefit may be based on that reduced amount.

Remarriage

Generally you can't get survivor benefits if you remarry before age 60 (age 50 if disabled). Remarrying after that doesn't stop payments based on your late spouse's record.

If you work while collecting

If you collect survivor benefits and are younger than FRA, SSA may reduce your benefits when your earnings go over certain limits. SSA says there's no earnings limit beginning with the month you reach full retirement age. Your earnings reduce only your own payment, not those of other family members.

Next steps

1. Create or sign in to your my Social Security account to see your earnings record and estimates.
2. Find your full retirement age on SSA's calculator page.
3. If you're divorced, gather your divorce papers and your ex-spouse's details, and ask SSA whether you qualify.
4. If a spouse has died, apply promptly. SSA notes that for some claims, it pays benefits from the time you apply, not the date of death.
5. Call SSA at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) for a personal answer. For general planning, see how to decide when to claim Social Security.