Who gets my Social Security money if I die?

Who gets my Social Security money if I die?

Your family members may receive survivors benefits if you die. If you are working and paying into Social Security, some of those taxes you pay are for survivors benefits. Your spouse, children, and parents could be eligible for benefits based on your earnings.

What happens to my dad’s Social Security when he died?

Within a family, a child can receive up to half of the parent’s full retirement or disability benefit. If a child receives survivors benefits, they can get up to 75 percent of the deceased parent’s basic Social Security benefit. It can be from 150 to 180 percent of the parent’s full benefit amount.

How long can a widow receive survivor benefits?

Widows and widowers Generally, spouses and ex-spouses become eligible for survivor benefits at age 60 — 50 if they are disabled — provided they do not remarry before that age. These benefits are payable for life unless the spouse begins collecting a retirement benefit that is greater than the survivor benefit.

How long does a surviving spouse receive Social Security benefits?

If you are the divorced spouse of a worker who dies, you could get benefits the same as a widow or widower, provided that your marriage lasted 10 years or more. Benefits paid to you as a surviving divorced spouse won’t affect the benefit amount for other survivors getting benefits on the worker’s record.

How old does a widow have to be to collect husband’s Social Security?

60

Can I collect Social Security benefits and survivor benefits at the same time?

Social Security allows you to claim both a retirement and a survivor benefit at the same time, but the two won’t be added together to produce a bigger payment; you will receive the higher of the two amounts. You would be, in effect, simply claiming the bigger benefit.