Can You Qualify For Your Spouse's Social Security Benefits If They Die?

The death of a spouse is a devastating time for so many reasons, but if that individual was the primary wage earner in the family, Social Security can offer a much-needed lifeline. Social Security provides retirement income as a reward for workers who have contributed their share through Social Security taxes during their working years. When it comes to the benefits available to the surviving spouse, it works like a life insurance policy if all the eligibility requirements are met, and there are plenty of reasons you should apply for it.

In order to qualify for the benefit, you must have been married for at least nine months to someone who has worked enough in their lifetime to qualify for their own Social Security benefits. If your spouse passes away before reaching full retirement age and didn't start taking their Social Security benefit, then you can receive what is known as survivor benefits.

If you're worried that you can't take this benefit because you're still working, you still qualify, but the amount you will receive will depend on your age (if you haven't reached full retirement age yet) and how much you make from your own job. This rule is no different from that of someone applying for their own regular Social Security benefit. (Read about why people use Social Security early, as well as why they might wait.)

Just like with regular Social Security benefits, which vary depending on a person's age and earnings, the amount of survivor benefits vary as well. The amount of your benefit will depend on things like your age, your spouse's age at the time of death, and whether or not they had already started claiming their own Social Security benefit prior to their death.

You're eligible to start drawing Social Security benefits at age 62, before you reach full retirement age (66 or 67, depending on your birth year). Note that in order to receive 100% of your benefit, you need to wait until full retirement age; if you claim benefits before, your benefits will be reduced. For example, at age 62, your benefits will be reduced by 25%. On the flip side, if you delay claiming benefits past full retirement age, you'll receive an 8% credit for every 12 months after, up to age 70.

The same schedule holds for the spouse receiving the survivor benefit, which will reflect those early and late benefit elections. You're eligible for the full amount of your deceased spouse's Social Security benefit if you are at full retirement age or older, but if you apply between the age of 60 and your full retirement age, you will only receive between 71 ½% and 99% of their full benefit.

It's important to be aware that if you and your spouse both reached the age of 70 and were already taking Social Security benefits, you should automatically start receiving whichever benefit is greater once your spouse passes. (See the average Social Security benefit for a retired worker by age.)

There are a few exceptions to the rule when it comes to collecting survivor benefits. For example, you can't collect more than one benefit at a time, so if you're already collecting your own retirement benefit or collecting spousal benefits from your current, living spouse, you won't be able to collect this benefit as well. The general rule of thumb is that you will receive whichever benefit is higher and Social Security will make that determination for you.

If you're worried you aren't eligible for this benefit due to divorce, there's even an exception that takes these circumstances into account. If you're 60 or older and were married for a minimum of 10 years, you're eligible, as long as you haven't remarried, and your former spouse worked enough to accrue Social Security benefits of their own. (Here's more on what happens to Social Security after getting divorced.)

While the rule is that you must be 60 or older to qualify for this benefit, one notable exception is if you have a disability, which will qualify you to take survivors benefits early if you're between the ages of 50 and 59. You may also apply for the benefit if you're caring for your deceased spouse's child (or children) who's 16 or younger, or who's older but disabled. One final exception that may affect you is if your spouse died in the line of duty or due to an accident. In this case, the length of time you were married to your spouse no longer affects your eligibility to apply for survivor benefits.