Yes, an ex-spouse can collect Social Security death benefits on a deceased former spouse’s record. The marriage has to have lasted at least 10 years, you generally need to be 60 or older (50 if you have a qualifying disability), and you have to be unmarried, unless you remarried after 60. When you qualify, the benefit can be worth up to 100% of what your former spouse would have received at full retirement age.
Who Qualifies as a Surviving Divorced Spouse
Five conditions all have to be met:
- The marriage lasted at least 10 years before the divorce became final.
- You are at least 60, or at least 50 with a qualifying disability.
- You are currently unmarried, unless you remarried after age 60 (or after 50 with a disability).
- Your former spouse worked long enough under Social Security to be insured for benefits.
- The survivor benefit would be higher than your own retirement benefit. Social Security pays the higher of the two, never both stacked together.1Social Security Administration. What You Could Get From Survivor Benefits
There is one broad exception to the age and marriage-length rules. If you are caring for your deceased ex-spouse’s child who is under 16 or has a disability, you can qualify at any age, no matter how long the marriage lasted. The child has to be the biological or legally adopted child of both of you.2Social Security Administration. Survivors Benefits
What Remarriage Does to Your Claim
Remarriage is the rule that catches the most people off guard. If you remarried before turning 60 (or 50 with a disability), you are not eligible for survivor benefits on your first spouse’s record while that later marriage lasts. If that marriage later ends by divorce, annulment, or death, your eligibility on the first record comes back.3Social Security Administration. Social Security Handbook 406 – Effect of Remarriage-Widow(er)’s Benefits
Remarry after age 60 and the remarriage has no effect at all. You can collect survivor benefits on your deceased ex’s record even while you are married to someone else.4Social Security Administration. Who Can Get Survivor Benefits
How Much You Can Receive
The survivor benefit is a percentage of what your deceased former spouse would have received at full retirement age. The percentage depends on your age when you start:
- At your own full retirement age for survivors (66 to 67, depending on birth year): 100%.
- Age 65: over 90%.
- Age 63: over 80%.
- Age 61: over 75%.
- Age 60, or 50 with a disability: 71.5%, the floor.1Social Security Administration. What You Could Get From Survivor Benefits
The full retirement age used for survivor benefits is not identical to the FRA used for retirement. It is 66 for people born between 1945 and 1956, then rises gradually, reaching 67 for anyone born in 1962 or later.2Social Security Administration. Survivors Benefits
If you are also entitled to a retirement benefit on your own work record, Social Security compares the two and pays the larger amount. It does not add them.
Taking One Benefit First and Switching Later
Survivor benefits and your own retirement benefit are treated as separate claims. You can start one and switch to the other. This flexibility does not exist with regular spousal benefits, where “deemed filing” rules force you to take both at once. Survivor benefits are exempt from deemed filing.
The most common play: if your own retirement benefit is going to be larger eventually, start the survivor benefit at 60 and let your own record keep growing. Delayed retirement credits add 8% per year for every year you wait past your own full retirement age, maxing out at 70. Then switch.5Social Security Administration. Filing Rules for Retirement and Spouses Benefits6Social Security Administration. Delayed Retirement Credits
The reverse works when the survivor benefit is the larger one. Start your own reduced retirement benefit early, then move to the full survivor benefit once you reach your survivor full retirement age to lock in the 100%.
Will Your Claim Reduce What the Current Family Gets?
No. Benefits paid to a surviving divorced spouse are a separate entitlement. They do not reduce what the deceased’s current spouse, children, or other survivors receive, and they do not count against the family maximum on the record.2Social Security Administration. Survivors Benefits
One narrow exception: if you are collecting because you are caring for the deceased’s child under 16 or with a disability, that child-in-care benefit is figured inside the family maximum rather than outside it.2Social Security Administration. Survivors Benefits
The $255 Lump-Sum Death Payment
Social Security also pays a one-time $255 lump-sum death payment. A spouse who was living with the deceased has first priority. A spouse living separately, including a divorced spouse, may qualify if they are already eligible for benefits on the deceased’s record. You have to apply within two years of the death.7Social Security Administration. Lump-Sum Death Payment
How to Apply, and Why You Should Not Wait
Gather these before you file:
- Death certificate for your former spouse. A funeral home can often provide one.
- Your birth certificate or other proof of age.
- Marriage certificate for your marriage to the deceased.
- Divorce decree showing the date the divorce was final.
- Social Security numbers for both of you.2Social Security Administration. Survivors Benefits
You cannot file for survivor benefits through the standard online retirement application. Call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 or visit a local office. Book an appointment first if you go in person. Check ssa.gov/apply for current online options, which the SSA has been expanding.8Social Security Administration. Other Ways to Apply for Benefits
Retroactive survivor benefits reach back only six months from the month you apply. If your ex-spouse died a year ago and you file today, the months beyond that six-month window are gone permanently. For disabled survivors applying between 50 and 59, the retroactive period extends to 12 months.9Social Security Administration. Code of Federal Regulations 404.621
If the Government Pension Offset Stopped You Before
The Government Pension Offset used to cut or eliminate survivor benefits for people who also drew a pension from government work not covered by Social Security. Congress repealed it through the Social Security Fairness Act, signed on January 5, 2025. The repeal applies to benefits payable from January 2024 forward, and the SSA has processed over 3.1 million retroactive payments totaling $17 billion.10Social Security Administration. Social Security Fairness Act: Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO)
If you were denied before or never applied because of the GPO, contact Social Security. You may need to file a new application, and the six-month retroactive limit still applies from your filing date.
If Your Claim Is Denied
You have 60 days from the date you receive the denial letter to request reconsideration. Social Security assumes the letter reached you five days after the date on the notice, so the working deadline is 65 days from that date. A different reviewer looks at the claim, along with any new evidence you send in.11Social Security Administration. Your Right to Question the Decision Made on Your Claim
File the appeal online at ssa.gov, by phone at 1-800-772-1213, or at a local office. Miss the window and you can request an extension in writing with a good reason, but the extension is not guaranteed. A missed appeal deadline can make the denial final.11Social Security Administration. Your Right to Question the Decision Made on Your Claim