When a Spouse Dies, What Happens to Social Security?

When a spouse dies, Social Security offers three distinct forms of help: a one-time $255 death payment, monthly survivor benefits that can equal up to 100% of what the deceased was receiving, and separate monthly benefits for qualifying children. What happens to Social Security when a spouse dies depends on your age, whether you’re caring for young or disabled children, how your own work record compares to your late spouse’s, and how quickly you contact the agency. None of these benefits are automatic, and one of them, the payment for the month of death, has to be returned before anything else moves forward.

Return the Payment Covering the Month of Death

Social Security pays benefits for the prior month, so a deposit landing in March covers February. If your spouse died in February, that March deposit has to go back.¹

For direct deposits, call the bank and ask them to return the funds. If a paper check arrives, don’t cash it. Send it back to SSA. Ignoring the overpayment doesn’t make it go away; the agency will recover the money later, often by reducing your own future benefits.

The $255 Lump-Sum Death Payment

Social Security pays a one-time $255 after a worker dies. The amount hasn’t changed in decades, but you’re entitled to it and it takes a separate request. To qualify, you must have been living in the same household as the deceased at the time of death.²

If no spouse was living with the deceased, the payment can go to a surviving spouse or child already collecting on the worker’s record. You have two years from the date of death to file. If you were already receiving spousal benefits the month before your spouse died, SSA may process the payment without a separate application.³ The $255 is not subject to federal income tax.

Who Qualifies for Monthly Survivor Benefits

The lifetime money is in the monthly survivor benefit. Your eligibility as a surviving spouse depends on your age and circumstances:

Age 60 or older: reduced survivor benefits, starting at 71.5% of what your spouse would have received and rising to 100% at your survivor full retirement age.⁴
Age 50 to 59 with a qualifying disability that began before or within seven years of your spouse’s death.⁵
Any age if you’re caring for the deceased’s child who is under 16 or disabled. This pays 75% of the worker’s benefit and is sometimes called a mother’s or father’s benefit.⁶

The marriage generally must have lasted at least nine months. A narrower exception applies for accidental deaths involving violent external causes within three months of the injury.⁷

How Much You’ll Receive

The amount depends on your late spouse’s earnings record, when you claim, and whether they had already started their own retirement benefit.

Survivor full retirement age is not the same as regular retirement age. For survivors born between 1945 and 1956, it’s 66. It rises for those born from 1957 through 1962 and reaches 67 for anyone born in 1962 or later.⁶ Wait until then and you receive 100%. Claim earlier and the percentage drops:

Age 60: 71.5%
Age 61: about 75%
Age 63: about 80%
Age 65: about 90%
Survivor full retirement age (66–67): 100%⁴

You cannot collect your own retirement benefit and a survivor benefit at the same time. SSA pays the higher of the two, not both. If your spouse had delayed claiming past their full retirement age, the delayed retirement credits carry through and increase your survivor benefit. If they claimed early, you’re capped at the reduced amount they locked in.

Claiming Your Own and Survivor Benefits at Different Times

Here is where many surviving spouses miss real money. Unlike other Social Security benefits, you can claim a survivor benefit and your own retirement benefit at different times. This is one of the few switching strategies that survived the 2015 rule changes.

If your own benefit at age 70 will be higher than your survivor benefit, you can take the survivor benefit now and switch to your own at 70. If your survivor benefit is the larger of the two, you can take a reduced retirement benefit on your own record early and switch to the full survivor benefit at your survivor full retirement age. Getting this decision right can be worth tens of thousands of dollars over a lifetime, and the wrong pick locks you into a permanently lower payment. Run the numbers before filing, either with SSA or with an advisor who works with Social Security claiming.

Benefits for the Children

The deceased worker’s children can receive their own monthly benefits, separate from what the surviving spouse collects. Qualifying children must be unmarried and meet one of these conditions:⁸

Under age 18
Ages 18 to 19 and enrolled full-time in a K–12 school
Any age if they became disabled before age 22

Each eligible child receives 75% of the deceased parent’s benefit.⁴ There is a cap on the total paid to all family members on one worker’s record, called the family maximum. If total family benefits exceed it, each person’s payment is reduced proportionally.⁹ Ex-spouses collecting on the same record don’t count toward this cap.

Working While Collecting

If you haven’t reached full retirement age and you’re working, SSA may temporarily reduce your benefit. For 2026, the earnings limit is $24,480 a year. For every $2 you earn above that, SSA withholds $1 in benefits.¹⁰

In the year you reach full retirement age, a higher limit kicks in: $65,160 for 2026, with $1 withheld for every $3 above the limit, counting only earnings before the month you reach FRA. Once you hit full retirement age, the earnings test disappears and you can earn any amount.¹⁰ Money withheld isn’t permanently lost. SSA recalculates your benefit at full retirement age and raises the monthly amount to account for the withheld months. Still, the short-term reduction surprises many working survivors.

Remarriage and Divorced Spouses

Remarriage before age 60, or before 50 if you’re disabled, ends your eligibility for survivor benefits on your late spouse’s record. Remarriage after 60 has no effect. You keep the benefits.⁵

Divorced surviving spouses also qualify if the marriage lasted at least 10 years and they are currently unmarried, or they remarried after age 60. An ex-spouse’s benefits don’t reduce what the current surviving spouse or children receive, and they don’t count toward the family maximum.

How to Apply

You cannot apply for survivor benefits online. Call SSA at 1-800-772-1213 to report the death and schedule an appointment, which can be handled by phone or at a local field office.¹¹ Funeral homes often report deaths as a courtesy, but calling yourself keeps you in control.

Have these documents ready:

Social Security numbers for you and the deceased
A certified death certificate from the state registrar; photocopies aren’t accepted
Your marriage certificate
Bank account and routing numbers for direct deposit
Proof of citizenship or lawful status if you are not a U.S. citizen, typically a Permanent Resident Card or other Department of Homeland Security documents¹²

The formal application is Form SSA-10, Application for Widow’s or Widower’s Insurance Benefits.¹³ Straightforward cases typically get a decision letter within about 30 days. If SSA needs more information, they’ll write to you, so watch the mail.

If you file after your first month of eligibility, SSA can pay retroactive benefits for up to six months before the month you applied. For survivors claiming based on disability, retroactivity can extend to 12 months.¹⁴ A short delay doesn’t mean lost money. A long one does.

When Survivor Benefits Are Taxable

Monthly survivor benefits follow the same tax rules as any Social Security benefit. Whether you owe federal income tax depends on your combined income: adjusted gross income plus any nontaxable interest plus half your Social Security benefits. Most surviving spouses file as single, and the single-filer thresholds are:¹⁵

Below $25,000: no tax on benefits
$25,000 to $34,000: up to 50% of benefits may be taxable
Above $34,000: up to 85% of benefits may be taxable

If you’ve remarried and file jointly, the thresholds are $32,000 and $44,000. Because the thresholds haven’t been adjusted for inflation, many survivors owe tax on their benefits for the first time after moving from a joint return to a single return, a shift sometimes called the widow’s tax penalty.

The Social Security Fairness Act

Until recently, survivors who received a pension from government work not covered by Social Security, such as certain state and local government jobs, faced the Government Pension Offset. It reduced survivor benefits by two-thirds of the government pension amount and wiped out the entire survivor benefit for most people affected.

The Social Security Fairness Act, signed into law on January 5, 2025, eliminated that offset. The repeal applies retroactively to benefits payable from January 2024 forward, and SSA began adjusting payments and issuing retroactive lump sums in February 2025.¹⁶ If you previously skipped applying because the offset would have zeroed out your survivor benefit, contact SSA now. Retroactive payments on new applications are still capped at six months before the month you file.

1
Social Security Administration. How Social Security Can Help You When a Family Member Dies
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 402 – Old-age and Survivors Insurance Benefit Payments – Section: Lump-Sum Death Payments
3
Social Security Administration. Time Limit for Applying for Lump-Sum Death Payment
4
Social Security Administration. What You Could Get From Survivor Benefits
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 402 – Old-age and Survivors Insurance Benefit Payments
6
Social Security Administration. Survivors Benefits
7
Code of Federal Regulations. CFR 404.335 – How Do I Become Entitled to Widows or Widowers Benefits
8
Social Security Administration. Who Can Get Survivor Benefits
9
Social Security Administration. Formula for Family Maximum Benefit
10
Social Security Administration. 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment COLA Fact Sheet
11
Social Security Administration. Contact Social Security By Phone
12
Social Security Administration. Proof of Citizenship/Lawful Alien Status
13
Social Security Administration. Form SSA-10 – Application for Widows or Widowers Insurance Benefits
14
Social Security Administration. CFR 404.621 – What Happens if I File After the First Month I Meet the Requirements for Benefits
15
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 86 – Social Security and Tier 1 Railroad Retirement Benefits
16
Social Security Administration. Social Security Fairness Act – Windfall Elimination Provision WEP and Government Pension Offset GPO