Social Security spousal and survivor benefits: the basics

Social Security pays benefits not only to workers but also to their husbands, wives, former spouses and surviving spouses. These family benefits are based on the worker's earnings record. The rules for a living worker's spouse and for a survivor are different, and they are often confused.

Spousal benefits while both spouses are living

A husband or wife can receive a benefit based on the other spouse's record. Under the Social Security Administration's eligibility rules for family benefits, the spouse generally must:

• be at least 62, or be caring for the worker's child who is under 16 or disabled,
• have been married to the worker for at least one continuous year (with some exceptions), and
• be married to a worker who is already entitled to retirement or disability benefits.

That last point matters. A current spouse generally cannot collect a spousal benefit until the worker has filed for their own benefit.

The full spousal benefit is 50% of the worker's primary insurance amount, which is the worker's benefit at full retirement age. It is 50% of that base figure even if the worker claimed early or late. Delayed retirement credits earned by a worker who waits past full retirement age do not raise the spousal amount.

How claiming age reduces a spousal benefit

A spouse who starts before their own full retirement age receives less. The reduction is 25/36 of 1% for each of the first 36 months and 5/12 of 1% for each additional month. For a spouse whose full retirement age is 67, starting at 62 reduces the spousal benefit by 35%. Unlike a worker's own benefit, a spousal benefit does not grow by waiting past full retirement age.

You do not get both benefits added together

Many spouses have earned a benefit on their own record as well. Social Security does not pay both in full. A person is paid their own retirement benefit first, and if the spousal amount is higher, a top-up brings the total to the higher figure. The agency does not add the two payments together.

A rule called deemed filing also applies. For anyone born on or after January 2, 1954 (that is, anyone who turned 62 on or after January 2, 2016), applying for either a retirement benefit or a spousal benefit is treated as applying for both when the person is eligible for both. An older strategy of claiming only a spousal benefit while letting one's own benefit grow is generally no longer available to people born on or after that date.

A hypothetical example

Suppose a worker's benefit at full retirement age is $2,400 a month, and the worker's spouse has earned a benefit of $900 on their own record. These are illustrative numbers only. If both spouses claim at full retirement age, the full spousal amount would be $1,200 (50% of $2,400). The spouse receives their own $900 plus a $300 top-up, for $1,200 in total, not $2,100.

Benefits for divorced spouses

A former spouse may qualify on an ex-spouse's record. Under the divorced spouse rules, the marriage must have lasted at least 10 years before the divorce became final, and the person claiming must be at least 62 and currently unmarried.

If the divorce has been final for at least two continuous years, the former spouse can qualify once the worker is 62, even if the worker has not yet filed. A divorced spouse's benefit is not counted against the family maximum, the cap on total benefits payable on one worker's record, so it does not reduce what the worker's current family receives. The broader financial side of divorce is covered in divorce and retirement accounts.

Survivor benefits after a spouse dies

Survivor benefits work differently and are generally larger. Under the survivor eligibility rules, a surviving spouse can generally qualify if:

• the marriage lasted at least nine months before the death (with exceptions, for example where the couple had a child together), and
• the survivor is at least 60, or at least 50 and disabled.

A surviving divorced spouse can qualify if the marriage lasted at least 10 years.

At the survivor's full retirement age, the benefit is up to 100% of the deceased worker's amount, including any delayed retirement credits the worker earned. Claimed earlier, the benefit is reduced, and at age 60 it starts at 71.5% of that amount, a 28.5% reduction. Full retirement age for survivor benefits follows a slightly different schedule than for retirement benefits. It is 66 for survivors born from 1945 through 1956 and rises gradually to 67 for those born in 1962 or later.

Two further points are easy to miss:

• The worker's claiming age carries over. If the deceased worker started benefits early, the survivor's benefit is generally limited to the larger of what the worker was receiving or 82.5% of the worker's primary insurance amount. If the worker delayed, the survivor inherits the larger amount. This is why the higher earner's claiming decision often matters most for a couple. See when to claim Social Security.
• Remarriage. A survivor generally must be unmarried to qualify, but a remarriage at age 60 or later (age 50 or later for a survivor with a disability) generally does not prevent survivor benefits.

Survivors can choose the order of benefits

Deemed filing does not apply to survivor benefits. A surviving spouse who also has a retirement benefit on their own record can apply for one and switch to the other later. Some survivors start a reduced survivor benefit first and move to their own retirement benefit at 70. Others do the reverse. Which order produces more depends on the two benefit amounts and the survivor's age.

As with spousal benefits, the survivor ends up with the higher of the two amounts, not the sum. A household that had two Social Security payments will have one after the first death. The article on financial steps after the death of a spouse covers the wider picture.

Spousal, survivor and retirement benefits before full retirement age are all subject to the earnings test described in working while collecting Social Security.