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Rebecca Lake is a journalist with 10+ years of experience reporting on personal finance. She also assists with content strategy for several brands.
Updated April 08, 2024 Part of the Series Complete Guide to Estate PlanningWills vs. Trusts
Types of Trusts
Your Legal Team
Advice for Heirs
When a beneficiary passes away, certain steps must be taken to cancel Social Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments or transfer the payments to an eligible survivor. For starters, you must report the death to the Social Security Administration.
When a Social Security beneficiary passes away, the Social Security Administration will continue sending out their regular monthly benefits until the death is reported. If you share a bank account with your spouse and they die, their benefits may be automatically deposited into your shared account until the SSA is notified.
Oftentimes the funeral home that handles a deceased person's arrangements will notify the SSA to let them know that the person has passed away. If this doesn’t happen, however, you can notify the SSA by calling their toll-free number (1-800-772-1213) or by visiting your nearest Social Security office.
Social Security beneficiary deaths cannot be reported online.
Failing to report the death of a Social Security beneficiary can be problematic for a couple of reasons. First, any payments you receive from Social Security after the beneficiary passes away will have to be returned. Second, failing to report the death of a Social Security beneficiary could cause you to miss out on collecting Social Security survivor benefits.
Social Security survivor benefits are payments that are made to eligible survivors of a deceased beneficiary.
Eligible survivors include:
These payments can be made on a monthly basis with amounts based on the benefits the deceased beneficiary was receiving and their relationship to the survivor. Here’s an overview of how survivor benefit amounts compare:
Divorced surviving spouses may be eligible to receive the same amounts as widows and widowers.
In the case of widows, widowers, and divorced spouses, there are a few additional rules to know. If you get remarried before turning 60 (or age 50 if you’re disabled), you may no longer be eligible for survivor benefits. You can, however, continue receiving benefits based on your deceased spouse’s Social Security record if you get remarried at age 60 or older (or 50 if you’re disabled).
Widows, widowers, and surviving spouses can also opt to switch to their own retirement benefits starting at age 62. This only makes sense if your retirement benefit would be more than you’re receiving for survivor benefits. And remember that taking retirement benefits between age 62 and 70 reduces your benefit amount. Delaying until 70 maximizes your retirement benefits.
One more thing: Your survivor benefit amount can be affected by any money you earn from working while receiving benefits. If you’re younger than full retirement age, your benefit amount can be reduced by $1 for every $2 you earn above the annual limit. For 2024, the annual earnings limit is $22,320. In the year you reach your full retirement age, the deduction goes to $1 for every $3 earned above a higher limit ($59,520), until the month you reach your full retirement age.
If you think you might be eligible to receive Social Security survivor benefits after the death of a beneficiary, there are some steps you’ll need to take to apply for them. The first is reporting the death to the Social Security Administration if the funeral home hasn’t done that already. You can also begin the application process at the time you report the death.
There are certain documents you’ll need to apply for Social Security survivor benefits. The documentation requirements depend on whether you’re applying for benefits as a widow or widower, as the deceased person’s parent, or as the parent of the deceased person’s child. Generally, the list includes things such as:
The Social Security Administration will accept photocopies of items such as medical documents and tax returns, but you’ll need to provide original birth certificates and other documents. These originals will be returned to you once your application for survivor benefits has been processed.
The Social Security Administration will also ask you questions to help determine your eligibility for Social Security survivor benefits. These questions cover basic things such as your name, date of birth, and address, but they also dive into your work and earnings history—and the deceased beneficiary’s work and earnings history, disability status, and military history. The Social Security Administration uses all of this information to process your application for benefits.
When a Social Security beneficiary dies, their spouse, child(ren), and parent(s) are considered survivors by the Social Security Administration. These people are eligible to collect survivors benefits.
Yes, under certain circumstances. A spouse must be at least 62 years old to receive a survivor benefit, unless they have a disability — then, they need to be at least 50 years old.
The average monthly Social Security survivor benefit for non-disabled surviving spouses, as of February 2024, is $1,779.05. For children of deceased beneficiaries, it's $1,105.35.
The most important thing to remember about handling Social Security when a beneficiary dies is that delays can be costly. For instance, if you wait to report the death and continue receiving benefits in the meantime, that could trigger serious legal consequences. And the longer you wait to apply for survivor benefits, the longer you’ll have to wait to begin receiving them.
