Social Security When A Spouse Dies – A Guide To Survivor Benefits

When a Social Security beneficiary dies, his or her surviving spouse is eligible for survivor benefits. A surviving spouse can collect 100 percent of the late spouse’s benefit if the survivor has reached full retirement age, but the amount will be lower if the deceased spouse claimed benefits before he or she reached full retirement age.(Full retirement age for survivor benefits differs from …

https://www.aarp.org/retirement/social-security/questions-answers/social-security-spouse-dies.html