Social Security auxiliary benefits are the monthly payments that family members can collect based on a worker’s earnings record. A current or divorced spouse can receive up to 50 percent of the worker’s full benefit, a qualifying child can also receive up to 50 percent, and survivors receive higher percentages after the worker dies. Federal law caps the total a family can draw from one record at roughly 150 to 188 percent of the worker’s benefit, depending on the formula and whether the record is a retirement or disability record.
Who Qualifies as a Spouse
A current spouse qualifies on a worker’s record at age 62, or at any age if caring for the worker’s child who is under 16 or disabled. The marriage must have lasted at least one year before applying.1eCFR. 20 CFR 404.330 – Who Is Entitled to Wifes or Husbands Benefits At full retirement age the spousal benefit is 50 percent of the worker’s primary insurance amount.2eCFR. 20 CFR Part 404 Subpart D – Benefits for Spouses and Divorced Spouses
Claiming earlier permanently shrinks the check. SSA reduces the benefit by 25/36 of one percent for each of the first 36 months before full retirement age, plus an additional 5/12 of one percent for every month beyond that.3Social Security Administration. Benefits for Spouses A spouse who claims at 62 when their full retirement age is 67 gets roughly 32.5 percent of the worker’s benefit instead of 50 percent. That reduction does not lift once the spouse reaches full retirement age.
Divorced Spouses
A divorced spouse can collect if the marriage lasted at least ten years, the divorced spouse is currently unmarried and at least 62, and the worker is eligible for benefits. If the divorce happened at least two years ago, the divorced spouse can file even before the worker has claimed, as long as the worker is at least 62.4eCFR. 20 CFR 404.331 – Who Is Entitled to Wifes or Husbands Benefits as a Divorced Spouse Remarrying generally ends this eligibility, unless the later marriage itself ends through death, divorce, or annulment.5Social Security Administration. Will Remarrying Affect My Social Security Benefits
A divorced spouse’s claim has no effect on the worker’s check or on what the worker’s current spouse receives. Multiple ex-spouses from different ten-year marriages can all collect on the same record at once without reducing each other.
Dual Entitlement
If you have earned your own Social Security retirement benefit, SSA pays that first. If the spousal amount would be higher, SSA adds enough to bring your total up to the spousal figure. You do not get both stacked.6Social Security Administration. Can I Collect Social Security Spouses Benefits and My Own Spousal benefits only add money when your own retirement amount is less than 50 percent of the worker’s benefit.
Who Qualifies as a Child
A child qualifies on a parent’s retirement or disability record if the child is unmarried and under 18. Full-time students at an elementary or secondary school stay eligible until the month before they turn 19. The child must have been dependent on the worker for at least half of their financial support.7eCFR. 20 CFR Part 404 Subpart D – Childs Benefits Each qualifying child can receive up to 50 percent of the worker’s primary insurance amount, subject to the family maximum.
Biological children, adopted children, and stepchildren all qualify. Grandchildren and step-grandchildren can also qualify, but only when their own parents were deceased or disabled at the time the grandparent became entitled to benefits or died.8eCFR. 20 CFR 404.358 – Who Is the Insureds Grandchild or Stepgrandchild
Disabled Adult Children
An adult whose disability began before age 22 can collect on a parent’s record at any age, as long as they remain unmarried and the parent is receiving retirement or disability benefits or has died. SSA calls this a child’s benefit even when the person is well into adulthood.9Social Security Administration. Disability Benefits – Benefits for Children With Disabilities Marriage generally ends the benefit. One exception: marrying another person who also receives disabled adult child benefits does not end it.5Social Security Administration. Will Remarrying Affect My Social Security Benefits
Survivor Benefits After the Worker Dies
When the worker dies, the percentages for family members change and a new set of rules applies. Survivor benefits are a separate category from the auxiliary benefits paid during the worker’s lifetime.
Surviving Spouses
A surviving spouse can begin collecting at age 60, or at 50 if they have a qualifying disability. The marriage must have lasted at least nine months before the worker’s death.10Social Security Administration. Who Can Get Survivor Benefits At full retirement age a surviving spouse gets 100 percent of the deceased worker’s benefit. Claiming at 60 drops the amount to about 71.5 percent, rising month by month toward the full figure.11Social Security Administration. What You Could Get From Survivor Benefits
A surviving spouse caring for the deceased worker’s child who is under 16 or disabled can collect at any age. Remarriage before age 60 generally ends survivor eligibility; remarrying at 60 or later does not.12eCFR. 20 CFR 404.336 – Who Is Entitled to Widows or Widowers Benefits as a Surviving Divorced Spouse A surviving divorced spouse follows the same rules if the marriage lasted at least ten years.
Surviving Children
A surviving child receives 75 percent of the deceased parent’s benefit.13Social Security Administration. Survivors Benefits The age and marital status requirements are the same as for a child on a living worker’s record: unmarried and under 18, under 19 if a full-time secondary student, or any age if disabled before 22.
Surviving Parents
A parent aged 62 or older who depended on the deceased worker for at least half of their support can collect. One qualifying parent receives 82.5 percent of the worker’s benefit; if two parents qualify, each receives 75 percent. The parent must not have married since the worker’s death, and must have been a biological parent or become a stepparent or adoptive parent before the worker turned 16.14Social Security Administration. Parents Benefits
The $255 Lump-Sum Death Payment
SSA also pays a one-time $255 death payment to a surviving spouse or, if there is none, to qualifying children. You must apply within two years of the worker’s death.15Social Security Administration. Lump-Sum Death Payment The amount has not changed since 1954.
The Family Maximum Cap
Federal law caps the total monthly amount a family can collect on one worker’s record. The worker’s own benefit is always paid in full; only auxiliary payments to spouses and children are reduced when a family hits the ceiling.16eCFR. 20 CFR 404.403 – Reduction Where Total Monthly Benefits Exceed Maximum Family Benefits Payable
For retirement and survivor records, SSA calculates the maximum using a four-tier formula applied to the worker’s primary insurance amount. The 2026 bend points are $1,643, $2,371, and $3,093,17Social Security Administration. Benefit Formula Bend Points and the percentages applied to successive portions are 150, 272, 134, and 175 percent. The result typically falls between about 150 and 188 percent of the worker’s own benefit.16eCFR. 20 CFR 404.403 – Reduction Where Total Monthly Benefits Exceed Maximum Family Benefits Payable If the combined payments to family members exceed the cap, SSA reduces each auxiliary check proportionally.
Disability records use a tighter cap: the lesser of 85 percent of the worker’s average indexed monthly earnings or 150 percent of the worker’s primary insurance amount, but never less than 100 percent of the worker’s benefit. That formula often produces a family maximum closer to 100 to 150 percent of the worker’s benefit, so auxiliaries on disability records can be trimmed more sharply.
An ex-spouse’s benefit does not count toward the family maximum. It is calculated and paid separately, leaving more room under the cap for the current spouse and children.11Social Security Administration. What You Could Get From Survivor Benefits
Working While Collecting: The Earnings Test
Family members who work while receiving auxiliary benefits are subject to the earnings test. If you are under full retirement age and earn more than $24,480 in 2026, SSA withholds $1 in benefits for every $2 you earn above that limit.18Social Security Administration. Determination of Exempt Amounts A higher limit and gentler withholding apply in the year you reach full retirement age, and the test ends once you pass it.
The test applies to each beneficiary individually. If a child on the record takes a summer job that clears the threshold, only that child’s payment is reduced; the worker and other family members are unaffected. Investment income, pensions, and other non-work income do not count.
How to Apply
You can apply by phone at 1-800-772-1213, online at ssa.gov, or at a local field office. There is no fee.19Social Security Administration. Understanding Supplemental Security Income – SSI Application Process and Applicants Rights Spouses and divorced spouses use Form SSA-2.20Social Security Administration. Form SSA-2 – Information You Need to Apply for Spouses or Divorced Spouses Benefits Child benefit applications use Form SSA-4.21Social Security Administration. Form SSA-4 – Information You Need to Apply for Childs Benefits
Documents you will need:
- The worker’s Social Security number.
- The applicant’s birth certificate, original or certified copy (not a photocopy).
- Proof of U.S. citizenship or lawful immigration status.
- Bank routing and account numbers for direct deposit.
- A marriage certificate for spouse claims.
- A final divorce decree showing at least ten years of marriage, for divorced spouse claims.
- For a student benefit at age 18 or 19, Form SSA-1372, on which a school official certifies full-time enrollment (at least 20 hours per week) in a course lasting at least 13 weeks.22Social Security Administration. Students Statement Regarding School Attendance – Form SSA-1372-BK
Once approved you will receive a Notice of Award letter listing your monthly payment and the date of your first deposit. If you applied late, some back benefits are available: up to 12 months of retroactive payments for auxiliaries on a disability record, up to 12 months for reduced spousal benefits, and up to six months for disabled adult children on a retirement record.23Social Security Administration. GN 00204.030 – Retroactivity for Title II Benefits Retroactive payments cannot go back further than the date the worker became entitled to benefits.
Auxiliary benefits can be taxable if the recipient’s income is high enough. For a child, up to 50 percent of the benefit becomes taxable when half the benefit plus other income exceeds $25,000 for a single filer; up to 85 percent can be taxable at higher income levels.24Internal Revenue Service. Survivors Benefits Most children owe nothing because they have little other income. For a spouse, the same test uses household income, with a $32,000 base for joint filers.
Recent Change: Government Pension Offset Repeal
Before 2025, the Government Pension Offset reduced or eliminated spousal and survivor benefits for people who received a government pension from work not covered by Social Security. The Social Security Fairness Act, signed on January 5, 2025, repealed that rule along with the related Windfall Elimination Provision. The repeal is retroactive to January 2024, so anyone whose auxiliary benefits were cut under those provisions is entitled to restored payments and a lump-sum covering the months since January 2024.25Social Security Administration. Government Pension Offset If a spousal or survivor claim was previously denied or reduced because of a government pension, contact SSA to have the case reviewed.