What happens to social security when you die?

If you are the head of the household or the primary income earner in the family, you may be concerned about what will happen to your spouse, children, and other dependents when you die. While Social Security allows certain dependents to qualify for Social Security benefits on your work record, different rules apply on who gets what.

Once you die, your surviving spouse, child, or other dependents may qualify to receive Social Security survivor benefits. The surviving spouse can claim benefits starting from age 60, or 50 if they are disabled, or wait until the full retirement age to receive full survivor benefits. Minor children and disabled adult children (who became disabled before 22) may also qualify to receive survivor benefits. The deceased worker’s family may also receive a lump sum death benefit of $255.

Who is eligible to claim Survivor benefits?

If you were eligible to claim Social Security benefits, certain family members may be eligible to claim benefits when you pass away. Your family members would be eligible to claim survivor benefits, or part of or all of the benefits that you would have received at the full retirement age.

Family members who may be eligible to claim Social Security benefits include:

Spouse

A surviving spouse of the deceased beneficiary may qualify for survivor benefits if the marriage has lasted at least one year. However, if the surviving spouse has a qualifying child, the one-year rule does not apply.

The widow or widower must be at least age 60 or older to receive survivor benefits, or 50 if they are disabled. If the surviving spouse is caring for the deceased’s child who is a minor or is disabled, they can receive survivor benefits at any age. Surviving spouses must not have remarried to be eligible for these benefits.

Divorced spouse

A divorced spouse can be eligible to claim survivor benefits on your work history if the married lasted at least 10 years. The ex-spouse must wait until age 62 to claim benefits or wait until the full retirement age to claim full benefits. If the divorced spouse has remarried, they are ineligible to claim survivor benefits.

Children

Unmarried children below age 18 are eligible to claim your Social Security survivor benefits. This also includes children between 18 and 19 who are enrolled full-time in a secondary school. If you have an adult child above 18 years who became disabled before age 22, they may also qualify to receive survivor benefits.

Other dependents

Apart from your spouse and children, other extended family members may be eligible to claim benefits. If you have a stepchild, grandchild, step-grandchild, or an adopted child, these dependents may be eligible to receive survivor benefits in certain circumstances. Parents above age 62 who depend on you for at least half of their income are also eligible to receive these benefits.

Can a surviving spouse claim survivor benefits and their own benefits?

A surviving spouse whose work history and age makes them eligible for Social Security benefits should not expect to receive full survivor benefits on top of their monthly checks. Social Security designed survivor benefits to protect non-working and minor/disabled children of deceased workers, but not to provide extra benefits to spouses who are eligible to receive Social Security benefits on their work history.

If your spouse is eligible for both primary benefits and survivor benefits, Social Security will pay the benefit with the larger payout, but not both. This means that, if you earn more than your spouse, but the spouse predeceases you, you cannot get excess benefits since your primary benefits are more than the survivor benefits you will receive.

However, you can choose to claim one benefit and wait until a future date to claim the other benefit. For example, since the surviving spouse becomes eligible to claim survivor benefits at 60 (or 50 if you are disabled), you can delay taking Social Security retirement benefits until 70 to give them more time to compound. If you earned less income than your deceased spouse, you can opt to claim benefits at age 62 and delay taking survivor benefits until a later time.  

Can an adult child collect survivor benefits?

Adult children who are above 18 years cannot inherit their parent’s Social Security benefits when the parent dies.  However, certain exemptions may allow adult children to qualify for benefits on their parent’s work history.

If the adult child is above age 18 but below 19 and is a full-time high school student, they may be eligible to receive survivor benefits. If the adult child is 18 or older, has a disability that started before age 22, and has not engaged in substantial gainful activity, they may also qualify for survivor benefits.

The adult child’s disability must meet SSA’s definition of “disability”, and be approved by Social Security doctors. The amount of benefits the adult child receives depends on the parent's earnings, Social Security tax contributions, and the parent's age when they started taking benefits. Typically, an adult child can receive up to 75% of the deceased parent's benefits.

What is the lump sum death payment?

The lump-sum death payment is a one-time payment of $255 that is made to the family of the deceased worker. The surviving spouse can qualify for the lump-sum death payment if they lived with the beneficiary at the time of death.

However, if the spouse was married to the deceased worker but lived separately, they may receive the death benefit if, at the time of death, they were receiving a form of benefit on the beneficiary’s work history, or became eligible to receive benefits at the time of death. If the deceased worker did not have a surviving spouse, a child of the deceased may receive the death benefit if, at the time of death, he/she was collecting benefits on the beneficiary’s work history, or became eligible to receive benefits upon the beneficiary’s death.

What happens to payments made after the death of the beneficiary?

Social Security pays benefits in the month following the month in which the payments are due. For example, January's benefits are received in February, while February's benefits are received in March. If Social Security makes a payment after the beneficiary's death, these payments should be returned to Social Security.

If the deceased’s surviving family members mistakenly spend the money, the financial institution will automatically withdraw money from the direct deposit account and return it to Social Security. However, if the deceased beneficiary received benefits in form of a check, you should not cash the check. Instead, you should return it to Social Security.