My Husband Died. Here’s How Much of His Social Security I Can Actually Claim.

Losing your spouse can change the size of your Social Security benefit. You cannot collect their full amount and your own at the same time, but you generally get whichever is larger. Claiming survivor benefits before your full retirement age (FRA) could reduce that check for as long as you collect it. Here’s how much you may reveive depending on when you claim.

What a Surviving Spouse Can Collect

Waiting until FRA for a survivor benefit will generally allow you to collect 100% of your spouse’s full amount. Congress set FRA at 67 for anyone born in 1962 or later, but the age for collecting your own full retirement benefit could differ based on your birth year. Your spouse’s decision to claim early might also limit how much you get. ¹

You can start collecting at 60, but your monthly check will be 28.5% smaller than the full amount available at a survivor FRA of 67. ² If you qualify for $2,400 at 67, the table below compares five claiming ages, with estimates rounded to the nearest dollar:

For someone with a survivor FRA of 67, Social Security spreads the 28.5% reduction across 84 months. Each month claimed early lowers the check by about 0.34%. Claiming at 62 means starting 60 months early, and doing so at 64 or 66 would start 36 or 12 months early. Following the table, you would get $8,208 less annually at 60 than at 67 ($684 × 12). Waiting past your survivor FRA won’t raise your payment.

If you’re unsure when to start survivor payments, a financial advisor could help map each claiming age against expenses.

How the Age You Claim Changes the Check

Survivor benefits offer a planning option most Social Security claims don’t. If you qualify on both your spouse’s record and your own, you may be able to start one payment first and switch to the other later. For example, you could take the survivor check while yours grows until 70, or start with your own amount and move to the larger survivor payment at FRA.

The order in which you take each benefit might depend on how much you get when compared with the survivor amount. If your benefit is $1,800 at 67, waiting until 70 would raise it to $2,232. That’s because Social Security increases benefits by 8% for each year you delay past FRA, up to 70. ³

With an FRA of 67, waiting three years would raise your monthly payment by 24% ($1,800 × 124% = $2,232). This figure doesn’t include future cost-of-living adjustments. Claiming at 62 instead would provide 70% of your FRA benefit, or $1,260 ($1,800 × 70%). The table compares these strategies using the $2,400 survivor benefit from the earlier example:

Starting with the survivor check and switching at 70 pays off only if your own payment at that age would top $2,400. With these figures, it wouldn’t. Your spouse’s claiming history also matters. Waiting past FRA to start benefits earns credits that can raise the survivor check.

Rules That Can Cut the Benefit

Other Social Security rules could reduce your payments or affect whether you qualify to collect them. The table below explains how earnings from work and remarriage may change your survivor check:

The remarriage rule has an exception for qualifying survivors with a disability. They can marry again at 50 or older without losing eligibility on their deceased spouse’s record. ⁴

Beyond monthly checks, eligible spouses or children may receive a separate $255 death payment. ⁵ You must usually apply within two years of the death, and collecting it does not reduce your ongoing benefit.

Before applying, compare your expected income with your monthly expenses, including any checks that could be withheld because of wages. A financial advisor can help you assess when to claim, how much to withdraw from savings and whether switching to your own retirement benefit later might increase your income.

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