Yes — if your husband dies, you can generally receive his Social Security as a survivor benefit, worth up to 100% of what he was entitled to at his full retirement age. Two things have to be true: you were married for at least nine months before his death, and he worked long enough under Social Security to be insured (usually about ten years, or as few as roughly a year and a half if he died young and you are caring for his children). What you actually collect depends on how old you are when you claim and on his lifetime earnings.
Who Qualifies as a Surviving Spouse
The nine-month marriage rule is the baseline. Exceptions apply if his death was accidental or occurred while he was on active military duty.1eCFR. 20 CFR Part 404 Subpart D – Old-Age, Disability, Dependents and Survivors Insurance Benefits
Age is the next gate. Survivor benefits start as early as age 60. If you have a qualifying disability that began no later than seven years after his death (or seven years after your mother’s or father’s benefits ended), you can claim at 50.2Social Security Administration. Code of Federal Regulations 404.335
Age doesn’t matter at all if you’re caring for his child who is under 16 or who has a disability that began before age 22. In that case you receive what Social Security calls mother’s or father’s benefits.3Social Security Administration. SSA-5-BK – Application for Mothers or Fathers Insurance Benefits They end when the youngest child in your care turns 16, unless that child has a qualifying disability.
If You Remarry
Remarrying before age 60 (or before 50 if you qualify by disability) ends your right to survivor benefits on your late husband’s record. If that later marriage itself ends by death, divorce, or annulment, eligibility can be restored. Remarrying at 60 or later has no effect — you keep the survivor benefit.4Social Security Administration. SSA Handbook 406 – Effect of Remarriage – Widowers Benefits
If You Were Divorced From Him
You don’t have to be married to him at the time of death. If your marriage lasted at least ten years, you can collect on his record under the same age and disability rules. The ten-year requirement is waived if you’re caring for his child who is under 16 or disabled and entitled to benefits on his record.5Social Security Administration. Survivors Benefits What you receive doesn’t reduce anything a current widow gets — Social Security pays each of you independently.
How Much You’ll Receive
The starting point is your husband’s primary insurance amount — the benefit he would have received at his full retirement age, based on his highest-earning years. If you wait until your own full retirement age (66 to 67, depending on when you were born) to claim the survivor benefit, you get 100% of that figure.6Social Security Administration. See Your Full Retirement Age for Survivor Benefits
Claiming earlier permanently reduces the amount:7Social Security Administration. What You Could Get From Survivor Benefits
- Age 60: 71.5%
- Age 61: over 75%
- Age 63: over 80%
- Age 65: over 90%
- Full retirement age: 100%
Benefits then rise each year with the cost-of-living adjustment. For 2026 the COLA is 2.8%.8Social Security Administration. 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Fact Sheet
When several people collect on the same record — you and multiple children, for example — a family maximum caps the total at roughly 150% to 180% of his primary insurance amount, and each person’s share is scaled down proportionally to fit.9eCFR. 20 CFR 228.14 – Family Maximum
If You Have Your Own Social Security Too
You can’t collect a full retirement benefit on your own record and a full survivor benefit at the same time. Social Security pays the higher of the two. But survivor benefits are exempt from the “deemed filing” rule that governs spousal benefits, which means you can claim one now and switch to the other later.10Social Security Administration. Filing Rules for Retirement and Spouses Benefits
That opens up two useful moves. If the survivor benefit is currently larger, start it as early as 60 and let your own retirement benefit keep growing — it goes up about 8% for every year you delay past your full retirement age, up to 70, when you can switch to your own higher check. If your own retirement benefit is already the bigger one, you can take it at 62 and switch to an unreduced survivor benefit at your full retirement age.
Working While Collecting
If you claim before full retirement age and keep working, the earnings test can hold back part of your check. In 2026 you can earn up to $24,480 with no reduction; above that, Social Security withholds $1 for every $2 you earn.8Social Security Administration. 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Fact Sheet
In the calendar year you reach full retirement age a higher limit applies — $65,160 in 2026 — with only $1 withheld for every $3 above it. After full retirement age the earnings test disappears entirely. Withheld amounts aren’t lost; Social Security recalculates your payment at full retirement age to give them back over time.11Social Security Administration. Exempt Amounts Under the Earnings Test
The $255 Lump-Sum Payment
Beyond the monthly benefit, Social Security pays a one-time lump sum of $255. As the surviving spouse you’re first in line for it. You have to apply within two years of his death.12Social Security Administration. Lump-Sum Death Payment
The Gap Between Child-in-Care Benefits and Age 60
If you’re a younger widow drawing mother’s or father’s benefits, be aware of what happens next. Those benefits stop when your youngest child turns 16 (unless the child has a qualifying disability). Age-based widow’s benefits don’t begin until 60. The stretch in between — sometimes called the blackout period — can run for years or even decades with no Social Security coming in. That’s worth planning around if it applies to you.
How to Apply
You can’t apply for survivor benefits online. Call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778) or go to a local office. Form SSA-10 can be submitted through Social Security’s Upload Documents feature.13Social Security Administration. Social Security Forms
Gather these before you start:
- Social Security numbers, yours and his
- Your marriage certificate (original or certified copy)
- His death certificate
- Your birth certificate
- His W-2 or self-employment tax return from his most recent year of work, which helps Social Security get the benefit calculation right
- Your bank account and routing numbers for direct deposit
Photocopies are fine for W-2s, tax returns, and medical records; most other documents, including birth certificates, need to be originals, which are returned after review.14Social Security Administration. Form SSA-10 – Information You Need to Apply for Widows, Widowers or Surviving Divorced Spouses Benefits
File soon. If you were already eligible before you applied, Social Security can pay up to six months of retroactive benefits when you file after full retirement age, and certain disabled widows filing before 61 can receive up to 12 months back.15Social Security Administration. POMS GN 00204.030 – Retroactivity for Title II Benefits Waiting longer than that costs you money you can’t recover.