What are survivors’ benefits?
Get Legal Help Today
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
|
Written by
Jeffrey Johnson
|
UPDATED: Nov 29, 2017
It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right legal decisions.
We strive to help you make confident insurance and legal decisions. Finding trusted and reliable insurance quotes and legal advice should be easy. This doesn’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own.
Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about legal topics and insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything legal and insurance related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by experts.
If you have enough credits at the time of your death, family members may be eligible for benefits. Eligible family members include:
- Widows and widowers age 62 or older;
- Disabled widow/widower age 50 or older;
- Widow/widower caring for a child under age 16 or a disabled child who receives Social Security benefits;
- Unmarried children under age 18 – or under age 19 while a full-time student in elementary or secondary school – or age 18 or older who is severely disabled;
- Parents who were dependent upon you for at least half of their support.
A one-time $255 lump sum benefit may also be payable.
Divorced widows/widowers may also be eligible for benefits – after your death – based upon your Social Security account.