Survivor Benefits: What a Widow or Widower Gets

A widow or widower can get 100% of the late spouse’s Social Security benefit by waiting until full retirement age for survivors, which is between 66 and 67. Survivor benefits can start at 60, at 71.5%, and rise the longer you wait (SSA’s survivors page). If your spouse had waited past full retirement age, the credits they earned carry over to you. If they had claimed early, a limit can apply. Both are explained below, with what children get, the family maximum and the $255 death payment.

Type what your late spouse was paid and the age they started, your date of birth and the age you plan to start. The calculator applies the reduction rules and the 82.5% “widow’s limit” in your browser and sends nothing. Its answer is an estimate: SSA works out the exact amount from the record when you apply.

How much does a widow or widower get?

The full survivor benefit equals the late spouse’s primary insurance amount: the monthly benefit they would have had at their full retirement age, which this page calls their full amount (20 CFR 404.338). Start it before your full retirement age for survivors and it is cut. The cut is 28.5% at 60, the earliest age, and it shrinks by the same step each month you wait, to nothing at full retirement age (20 CFR 404.410(c)). SSA puts it as 71.5% at 60, over 75% at 61, over 80% at 63 and over 90% at 65 (SSA).

With a survivors’ full retirement age of 67, there are 84 months from 60 to 67, so each month you wait adds about a third of a percentage point. As a share of the late spouse’s full amount, by our arithmetic on the regulation’s rate (20 CFR 404.410(c)(1)):

• At 60: 71.5%
• At 61: about 75.6%
• At 62: about 79.6%
• At 63: about 83.7%
• At 64: about 87.8%
• At 65: about 91.9%
• At 66: about 95.9%
• At 67: 100%

A widow or widower with a disability that started within seven years of the death can begin as early as 50, and gets the age-60 amount (20 CFR 404.335(c); 404.410(c)(2)). One who cares for the late spouse’s child under 16 or disabled can get 75% of the late spouse’s full amount at any age, as a mother’s or father’s benefit (20 CFR 404.342).

Switched onto your late spouse’s track

Their full benefit$2,930.20worked back from the $2,100.00 they were paid from 62

The buffer stop: the limit$2,417.4082.5% of their full benefit, because they started early

You, starting at 64$2,417 a month82.5% of the line, held at the limit

Their track

Your track

Share of their line, by the age you start

1. 60
2. 61
3. 62
4. 63
5. 64
6. 65
7. 66
8. 67

71.5%100%

Ages on the scale: the share of the line each starting age allows, from 71.5% at 60 to 100% at your full retirement age for survivors (67).

Move the age you start646070

Starting in June 2026, at 64, the survivor benefit would be about $2,417 a month. Your full retirement age for survivor benefits is 67. Your age would allow 87.8% of their full benefit ($2,572.20), but because your spouse started early, a survivor benefit is limited to the larger of what they were paid and 82.5% of their full benefit: $2,417.40.

What is full retirement age for survivors?

It is 66 for widows and widowers born from 1945 to 1956, then rises two months a year to 67 for those born in 1962 or later (20 CFR 404.409(b)):

• Born 1945 to 1956: 66
• Born 1957: 66 and 2 months
• Born 1958: 66 and 4 months
• Born 1959: 66 and 6 months
• Born 1960: 66 and 8 months
• Born 1961: 66 and 10 months
• Born 1962 or later: 67

Born on January 1? Use the year before: the rules treat you as reaching an age on the day before your birthday. This table runs two birth years behind the one for your own retirement benefit, because the earliest age for survivors is 60 rather than 62. So you can reach full retirement age for survivor benefits a few months before you reach it for your own (full retirement age by year of birth).

What if your spouse claimed early? The 82.5% limit

If your late spouse took a retirement benefit before their full retirement age, your survivor benefit is capped. The cap is the larger of two amounts: what your spouse would be getting now if alive, and 82.5% of their full amount (20 CFR 404.338(c)). It is often called the widow’s limit. It does not apply if your spouse died before claiming, or claimed at or after full retirement age.

The limit is a ceiling, not a floor. Your own cut for starting early comes first, and it can leave you below 82.5%.

An example with round numbers, leaving out yearly increases. Your late spouse’s full amount was $2,000, and they took $1,400 a month from 62. Your cap is the larger of $1,400 and 82.5% of $2,000, which is $1,650.

• You start at your full retirement age: 100% would be $2,000, so the cap holds you to $1,650.
• You start at 60: 71.5% is $1,430, under the cap, so you get $1,430.

With a survivors’ full retirement age of 67, your own cut leaves more than $1,650 from about 62 and 9 months, so in this example waiting past that age adds nothing. That is why the calculator asks when your spouse started.

Do your late spouse’s delayed credits carry over?

Yes. If your spouse waited past full retirement age, the delayed retirement credits they earned count in your survivor benefit, including credits for months of the year they died, up to the month before death (20 CFR 404.313(e)(1)). A worker with a full retirement age of 67 who waits until 70 gets 124% of their full amount (SSA’s table). Your survivor benefit then starts from that larger amount instead of the full amount.

That makes the higher earner’s claiming age a choice for both of you: waiting raises the survivor’s check as well as the worker’s. A living spouse and the children do not share in the credits; only a widow, widower or surviving divorced spouse does (404.313(e)(2)). See the best age to claim and spousal benefits.

Can you switch between a survivor benefit and your own?

Yes. If you can get a survivor benefit and a retirement benefit of your own, SSA pays the larger one, not both added together, and you can switch later. SSA’s example: start with the survivor benefit, then change to your own retirement benefit at 70, when it is highest (SSA).

This works because deemed filing, the rule that makes one claim count for both benefits, covers only a living spouse’s benefit and your own retirement benefit (Public Law 114-74, section 831(a)). A survivor benefit stays separate, so there are two ways round:

• Survivor benefit first: take it from 60, cut for age, and let your own benefit grow with delayed credits until 70.
• Your own benefit first: take it from 62, cut for age, and switch to the survivor benefit at your full retirement age for survivors, when it is no longer cut.

Which pays more depends on the two amounts and how long you live, so try both in the calculator. One edge case: if your own retirement benefit is as large as your late spouse’s full amount or larger, there is no survivor benefit to take (404.335(d)).

If you were already getting a spouse’s benefit when your spouse died, SSA can change it to a survivor benefit. You need not apply again if you have reached full retirement age or get no retirement or disability benefit of your own (404.335(b)).

Who can get survivor benefits?

A survivor benefit is a monthly benefit paid on the work record of someone who has died. A widow or widower, a surviving divorced spouse and unmarried children can get one, if the person who died had worked long enough to be insured under Social Security (see work credits). The conditions for each (20 CFR 404.335 to 404.350):

• A widow or widower aged 60 or older (50 with a disability), married for at least nine months before the death, with exceptions such as an accidental death.
• A widow or widower of any age who cares for the late spouse’s child under 16 or disabled.
• A surviving divorced spouse, if the marriage lasted at least 10 years, on the same age rules.
• Unmarried children under 18, up to 19 if still a full-time student below college, or any age with a disability that began before 22.

If you remarry before 60 (50 with a disability), you cannot get the benefit while that marriage lasts. Remarrying at 60 or later does not stop it (404.335(e)).

How much do children get?

Each child generally gets 75% of the late parent’s full amount (SSA; 20 CFR 404.353). A widowed parent who cares for them can get 75% too. When three or more people are paid on one record, the family maximum usually limits the total.

How does the family maximum limit survivor benefits?

It caps what the whole family can get each month on the worker’s record, and when the benefits add up to more, each one is cut in proportion. For a worker who dies in 2027 before turning 62, the cap is 150% of the first $1,712 of the worker’s full amount, 272% of the part up to $2,471, 134% of the part up to $3,223, and 175% of the rest (SSA’s family maximum formula). The proportional cut is set by 20 CFR 404.404. A surviving divorced spouse is left out of the count and is not cut (SSA).

An example with the 2027 formula and a full amount of $2,000: the cap works out to $3,351.30. A widowed parent and two children are each due 75%, which is $1,500, or $4,500 together. Each is cut in proportion, to $1,117 a month. The cut is figured month by month, so when a child’s benefit ends, the others can rise again, up to their full 75%.

1. The worker’s full benefit (PIA)What the worker gets at full retirement age
2. SpouseUp to half of it, less if started before the spouse’s full retirement age
3. ChildUp to half of it while the worker is living
4. Widow or widowerUp to 100% of the worker’s benefit (with any credits for waiting), from 60 at 71.5%
5. Child after a deathAbout 75% of the worker’s benefit
6. Family maximum150% to about 188% of the PIA in all (bend points $1,712, $2,471, $3,223)

What is the $255 death payment?

Social Security pays a one-time $255 when an insured worker dies (20 CFR 404.390). It goes to the widow or widower who lived in the same household. If there is none, it goes to a widow, widower or child who can get monthly benefits on the record. You must apply within two years of the death, unless you were already getting spouse’s benefits on the record (404.391 and 404.392).

Does work affect survivor benefits?

It can, before full retirement age. If you work and earn over the yearly limit, SSA holds back part of your survivor benefit; only your own benefit is affected, not your children’s (20 CFR 404.415(c)). In 2027 the limit is $25,560 a year, and more in the year you reach full retirement age (SSA). The test runs until full retirement age for retirement benefits, which can be a few months later than the survivors’ one. See the earnings limit.

Figures checked October 29, 2026.

Questions people ask

How much of my husband’s Social Security do I get as a widow?

All of his full amount if you wait until your full retirement age for survivors, and more if he had earned delayed credits (SSA). Starting earlier pays 71.5% at 60, rising each month. If he claimed early, you may be capped at the larger of his check and 82.5% of his full amount.

Can a widow get Social Security at 60?

Yes. Survivor benefits can start at 60, or at 50 with a disability, at 71.5% of the late spouse’s benefit (SSA). You can still switch to your own retirement benefit later.

Can I collect my own Social Security and my late spouse’s at the same time?

Not both in full. SSA pays the larger of the two, and you can take one first and switch to the other later (SSA).

Do I lose survivor benefits if I remarry?

Not if you remarry at 60 or later, or at 50 or later with a disability. Remarrying younger stops the benefit while that marriage lasts (20 CFR 404.335(e)).

Can a divorced spouse get survivor benefits?

Yes, if the marriage lasted at least 10 years; the same ages and amounts apply (20 CFR 404.336). What a surviving divorced spouse gets does not count toward the family maximum, so it does not cut anyone else’s benefit.

How much is the Social Security death benefit?

A one-time $255, paid to a widow or widower who lived with the worker, or else to a widow, widower or child who can get monthly benefits on the record (20 CFR 404.390).

Updated November 7, 2026