Yes—if your husband worked long enough under Social Security, you can receive survivor benefits based on his earnings record when he dies. The payment can reach 100% of what he was entitled to, though the exact amount depends on your age when you claim, whether he had already started his own benefits, and whether you also qualify for a retirement benefit of your own.
Who Qualifies as a Surviving Spouse
Two things have to line up: your husband’s work history and your own situation.
His record qualifies automatically if he was already receiving retirement or disability benefits when he died. Otherwise, he needed to have earned enough Social Security credits through payroll taxes. No one needs more than 40 credits (about ten years of work), and younger workers can qualify with fewer. A separate rule covers earlier deaths: if he earned at least six credits in the three years before he died, that alone qualifies you for benefits if you are caring for his children.1Social Security Administration. Social Security Credits and Benefit Eligibility
Marriage Length
You generally must have been married for at least nine months before his death. That requirement is waived if the death was accidental (an unexpected event involving violent external injuries resulting in death within three months) or if he died on active military duty.2eCFR. 20 CFR 404.335 – How Do I Become Entitled to Widow’s or Widower’s Benefits?
Your Age
Most surviving spouses become eligible at 60. If you have a qualifying disability that began before your husband’s death or within seven years after, you can claim as early as 50.3Social Security Administration. Who Can Get Survivor Benefits You can also qualify at any age if you are caring for his child who is under 16 or has a disability.4Social Security Administration. Survivors Benefits
If You Remarry
Remarrying does not automatically end your eligibility. If the new marriage happens after age 60 (or after 50 if you are disabled), you keep the right to claim on your late husband’s record.5Social Security Administration. SSA Handbook 406 – Effect of Remarriage – Widow(er)’s Benefits Remarrying before 50 ends eligibility unless that later marriage itself ends through divorce, annulment, or death.6Social Security Administration. Will Remarrying Affect My Social Security Benefits?
If You Were Divorced from Him
A divorce does not shut you out. You can still qualify on his record if the marriage lasted at least ten years, and the same age rules apply. If you are caring for his child under 16 or disabled, both the ten-year rule and the age rule are waived.4Social Security Administration. Survivors Benefits Your claim does not reduce anything paid to his current spouse or children.
How Much You Will Receive
The monthly amount comes down to his earnings record and the age at which you start.
Claiming at Full Retirement Age vs. Early
Wait until your full retirement age for survivor benefits (between 66 and 67, depending on your birth year) and you receive 100% of his benefit. Claiming earlier permanently reduces the percentage. At 60, the earliest possible age, the payment starts at 71.5% of the full amount and rises the longer you wait.7Social Security Administration. What You Could Get from Survivor Benefits A widow caring for his child under 16 receives 75% regardless of her own age.4Social Security Administration. Survivors Benefits
If He Claimed Early
If your husband started his own retirement benefits before his full retirement age, your survivor benefit is reduced, but there is a floor. Your benefit cannot fall below 82.5% of his primary insurance amount, even if he was collecting less than that when he died.8Social Security Administration. The Widow(er)’s Limit Provision of Social Security So if he claimed at 62 and was getting 75% of his full benefit, your survivor payment at full retirement age is based on 82.5%, not on the smaller 75% he had been collecting.
If You Have Your Own Retirement Benefit
You cannot collect a full retirement benefit and a full survivor benefit at the same time. Social Security compares the two and pays the higher one. If your own retirement benefit is smaller, the agency adds a supplement to bring the total up to the survivor rate.9Social Security Administration. Research Summary – Women’s Eligibility Basis for Social Security Retirement Benefits Is Changing If you qualify for both, you can also claim one first and switch later. A common approach: take a reduced survivor benefit at 60, then switch to your own retirement benefit at 70 if delayed retirement credits make it larger.
Working While You Collect
If you claim before your full retirement age and keep working, your survivor benefits may be reduced temporarily. For 2026, the earnings limit is $24,480. Above that, $1 is withheld for every $2 you earn.10Social Security Administration. Receiving Benefits While Working
The rules loosen in the year you reach full retirement age. Only earnings before that month count, the limit rises to $65,160 for 2026, and the withholding rate drops to $1 for every $3 over the limit.10Social Security Administration. Receiving Benefits While Working Once you reach full retirement age, there is no earnings limit at all. Money withheld earlier is not lost; Social Security recalculates your monthly payment upward at full retirement age to make up for the months your benefits were reduced.
A first-year rule also helps. If you start benefits partway through a year in which your total earnings exceed the annual limit, you can still receive a full benefit for any month your earnings stay below the monthly threshold ($2,040 in 2026).10Social Security Administration. Receiving Benefits While Working
Taxes on What You Receive
Survivor benefits are taxed like any other Social Security income. Whether you owe federal tax depends on your combined income: adjusted gross income, plus nontaxable interest, plus half of your Social Security benefits for the year.
- Below $25,000 (single) or $32,000 (married filing jointly): benefits are not taxable.
- $25,000 to $34,000 (single) or $32,000 to $44,000 (married filing jointly): up to 50% of benefits may be taxable.
- Above $34,000 (single) or $44,000 (married filing jointly): up to 85% of benefits may be taxable.
These thresholds are set by federal law and have not been adjusted for inflation.11Internal Revenue Service. Publication 915 – Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits “Up to 85% taxable” is not a tax rate; it is the portion of your benefits that gets added to your taxable income, which is then taxed at your normal rate.
To have taxes withheld from your monthly check, submit IRS Form W-4V to Social Security and pick a flat rate of 7%, 10%, 12%, or 22%.12Internal Revenue Service. Form W-4V Voluntary Withholding Request You can also change withholding through your online Social Security account or by phone.
How to Apply
Before contacting Social Security, gather:
- Proof of death. A funeral director usually files Form SSA-721 (Statement of Death by Funeral Director); a certified death certificate also works.13Social Security Administration. Form SSA-721 Statement of Death by Funeral Director
- Social Security numbers for you and your husband.
- Your marriage certificate.
- Your birth certificate.
- Recent tax returns or W-2s, if you are working.
To file, call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) to schedule an appointment by phone or in person.14Social Security Administration. Social Security Benefits After the Death of a Spouse or Divorced Spouse You will complete Form SSA-10, the application for widow’s, widower’s, or surviving divorced spouse’s benefits.15Social Security Administration. Form SSA-10 – Information You Need to Apply for Widow’s, Widower’s or Surviving Divorced Spouse’s Benefits Check ssa.gov before you apply to see whether electronic filing is available for survivor claims. Most straightforward claims are processed in about 14 days.16Social Security Administration. Social Security Performance
You Don’t Have to Apply Right Away
Survivor benefits can be paid retroactively for up to six months before the month you apply, as long as you met the eligibility rules during that period. For disabled widows, the retroactive window extends up to 12 months.17Social Security Administration. SSA Handbook 1513 – Retroactive Effect of Application
The $255 Lump-Sum Death Payment
You can also request a one-time lump-sum death payment of $255.18Social Security Administration. Lump-Sum Death Payment To qualify, you must have been living with your husband when he died or already receiving benefits on his record, and you must apply within two years of the death.19Social Security Administration. SSA Handbook 433 If there is no eligible surviving spouse, a child receiving benefits on his record can claim it.20Social Security Administration. How Social Security Can Help You When a Family Member Dies
If You Receive a Government Pension
The Government Pension Offset used to reduce survivor benefits by two-thirds of any pension from a government job that did not pay into Social Security, and often wiped survivor benefits out entirely. The Social Security Fairness Act, signed into law on January 5, 2025, ended that offset for benefits payable after December 2023.21Social Security Administration. Government Pension Offset If your survivor benefits were reduced or denied under the old rule, contact Social Security to have your case reviewed.