Yes. When your spouse dies, you can receive their Social Security as a monthly survivor benefit, provided you meet the age, marriage, and marital-status rules. The payment ranges from 71.5 percent of what your spouse was entitled to if you claim at 60, up to 100 percent if you wait until your full retirement age for survivors.1Social Security Administration. What You Could Get From Survivor Benefits You cannot collect both your own full retirement benefit and a full survivor benefit at the same time; Social Security pays the higher of the two.2Social Security Administration. POMS RS 00615.020 – Dual Entitlement Overview
Who Qualifies
Three things decide whether you can collect: your age, how long the marriage lasted, and whether you have remarried.
You generally need to be at least 60, or at least 50 if you have a qualifying disability.3eCFR. 20 CFR 404.335 – How Do I Become Entitled to Widow’s or Widower’s Benefits? There is one route around the age rule: if you are caring for the deceased worker’s child who is under 16 or has a qualifying disability, you can receive benefits at any age.4Social Security Administration. Benefits for Children
The marriage must have lasted at least nine months immediately before the death.3eCFR. 20 CFR 404.335 – How Do I Become Entitled to Widow’s or Widower’s Benefits? The nine-month rule is waived in a handful of situations: the death resulted from an accident that was not reasonably expected when you married; the death occurred in the line of active-duty military service; you had previously been married to the same person for at least nine months; or you and the deceased worker are the natural parents of a child together.5Social Security Administration. Code of Federal Regulations 404.335
Remarriage matters, but only if it happens before age 60 (or before 50 if you are a disabled surviving spouse). Remarrying after that point does not cost you the benefit. And if a pre-60 remarriage later ends in death, divorce, or annulment, your eligibility on your first spouse’s record comes back.6Social Security Administration. SSA Handbook 406 – Effect of Remarriage-Widow(er)’s Benefits
Divorced from your spouse before they died? You can still collect on their record as long as the marriage lasted at least 10 years. The same age and remarriage rules apply, and your claim does not reduce anything the current widow or widower receives.7Social Security Administration. Who Can Get Survivor Benefits
How Much You Get
The percentage of your spouse’s benefit that you receive depends entirely on your age when you start collecting. Wait until your full retirement age for survivors and you get the whole thing. Claim earlier and the reduction is permanent.1Social Security Administration. What You Could Get From Survivor Benefits
- Age 60: 71.5 percent
- Age 61: roughly 75 percent or higher
- Age 63: over 80 percent
- Age 65: over 90 percent
- Full retirement age (66 to 67, depending on birth year): 100 percent
Full retirement age for survivor benefits is 66 for people born between 1945 and 1956, phases up for those born between 1957 and 1962, and reaches 67 for anyone born in 1962 or later.8Social Security Administration. Survivors Benefits – Publication No. 05-10084
One recent change matters if your spouse worked in a government job not covered by Social Security. The Government Pension Offset used to cut survivor benefits by two-thirds of certain public pensions, often to zero. The Social Security Fairness Act, signed January 5, 2025, ended that offset for benefits payable from January 2024 forward. Adjustments and retroactive payments should be applied automatically.9Social Security Administration. Social Security Fairness Act – Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO)
If You Also Qualify on Your Own Record
If you have enough work history for your own Social Security retirement benefit, you cannot stack it on top of a survivor benefit. Social Security pays the higher of the two.2Social Security Administration. POMS RS 00615.020 – Dual Entitlement Overview
You can, however, take one benefit first and switch to the other later. That flexibility is where survivors often leave real money on the table. Your own retirement benefit grows about 8 percent per year for each year you delay past your full retirement age, up to age 70.10Social Security Administration. Early or Late Retirement A common approach is to take the reduced survivor benefit at 60, let your own retirement benefit keep growing untouched, then switch to your own record at 70 if it now pays more.1Social Security Administration. What You Could Get From Survivor Benefits
The reverse can also work. If your survivor benefit at full retirement age would exceed your own benefit at 70, you might claim a reduced retirement benefit early and shift to the full survivor benefit later. Which order is right comes down to the relative size of the two benefits.
Working While You Collect
If you claim before your full retirement age and are still working, the earnings test can temporarily reduce your check. In 2026, if you are under full retirement age all year, Social Security withholds $1 for every $2 you earn above $24,480. In the year you reach full retirement age, the threshold rises to $65,160 and the withholding drops to $1 for every $3 above it, counting only earnings before the month you hit that age. Once you reach full retirement age, the earnings test ends and you can earn any amount.11Social Security Administration. Receiving Benefits While Working Withheld money is not lost: Social Security recalculates and credits you at full retirement age for the months benefits were reduced.12Social Security Administration. 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Fact Sheet
The One-Time $255 Payment
Separate from the monthly benefit, Social Security pays a one-time lump sum of $255 to a surviving spouse (or, if no eligible spouse, to qualifying dependent children). The amount has been fixed at $255 since 1954. You have to apply within two years of the death.13Social Security Administration. Lump-Sum Death Payment It is small and easy to forget, and the deadline is firm.
How to File
Survivor claims cannot be completed through the online portal. Call 1-800-772-1213 to set up a phone appointment, or visit your local Social Security office. Phone lines are open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time; TTY is 1-800-325-0778.14Social Security Administration. Other Ways to Apply for Benefits15Social Security Administration. Contact Social Security by Phone
Have these ready before you call:
- Your Social Security number and your spouse’s
- A certified death certificate (obtained from the vital records office where the death occurred; certified copies typically cost $15 to $25)
- Your marriage certificate
- Divorce papers, if you are applying as a surviving divorced spouse
- Birth certificates for any dependent children who may also qualify
- Bank routing and account numbers for direct deposit
Originals are returned after processing, though it can take several weeks.8Social Security Administration. Survivors Benefits – Publication No. 05-10084 If yours was a common-law marriage in a state that recognizes them, the SSA accepts the claim with additional documentation, including signed statements from you and from relatives, plus corroborating records like joint mortgages, shared insurance policies, or joint bank accounts.
Don’t Wait Too Long, but Don’t Rush
You do not lose eligibility by delaying, but retroactive pay is limited. If you file after your first eligible month, Social Security can pay back only up to six months of benefits before your application date. Disabled surviving spouses get a 12-month retroactive window.16Social Security Administration. Code of Federal Regulations 404.621 – What Happens if I File After the First Month I Meet the Requirements for Benefits? Anything older than that window is gone.
Filing early also locks in a permanently reduced amount if you have not yet reached full retirement age. If you need the income now, apply promptly so you do not lose retroactive months. If you can afford to wait and want the higher percentage, the delay may be worth more than the retroactive check.
Non-Citizen Surviving Spouses
Lawfully present non-citizens who meet the standard eligibility requirements can collect survivor benefits.17Social Security Administration. Can Noncitizens Receive Social Security Benefits or Supplemental Security (SSI)? If you live outside the United States, payments generally stop after six consecutive calendar months abroad and resume only after you return for a full calendar month, subject to country-specific rules and international agreements. Contact the SSA’s Office of International Programs before an extended stay abroad.