Investment · United States
Social Security survivor benefit.
Enter the deceased worker's benefit and your age. See the widow or widower benefit, the cap that applies if they claimed early, and what children get.
A surviving spouse gets 100% of the worker's benefit at survivor full retirement age (66 to 67 for most people today) and 71.5% at age 60, falling in a straight line between. If the worker claimed early, the survivor is capped at the larger of 82.5% of the worker's PIA or the reduced benefit they were getting. Each child gets 75%.
Inputs
Your estimate
Enter the worker's PIA and your details.
How the estimate is worked out
Step 1, original benefit. SSA starts from 100% of the worker's PIA. If the worker claimed after full retirement age, it uses the larger of the PIA and the benefit including delayed credits (enter that as the monthly benefit).
Step 2, reduction for your age. The widow(er) reduction is capped at 28.5% no matter your full retirement age (FRA). Reduction = original benefit x months before FRA x 28.5% / (months between 60 and FRA), with the reduction rounded up to the next dime. At FRA 67 that is 84 months, so 0.339% a month; a survivor starting at 60 gets 71.5%. A disabled survivor under 60 is treated as 60 (71.5%).
Step 3, RIB-LIM. If the worker took a reduced retirement benefit, the widow(er) benefit cannot exceed the larger of 82.5% of the PIA or the reduced benefit the worker would have received. SSA's own example: PIA $374.90, reduced benefit $350, so the widow's benefit is $350, not $374.90.
Step 4, others. A child, or a spouse caring for a child under 16, gets 75% of the worker's benefit amount. A surviving spouse who remarries before 60 (50 if disabled) loses the surviving-spouse benefit; remarrying later does not. Total family payments are capped between 150% and 180% of the worker's benefit amount, shown as a range below your results, not applied.
Worked example: PIA $2,000, FRA 67, starting at 62: 60 months early of 84, so the reduction is $2,000 x 60 x 0.285 / 84 = $407.15 rounded up to $407.20, leaving $1,592.80 (79.6%).
Not modelled: the family maximum, the earnings limit before FRA, switching to your own retirement benefit, cost-of-living adjustments, taxes, divorced-spouse rules, and the rule that delayed credits earned in the year of death are added the following January.
Sources, fetched 2 October 2026: SSA POMS RS 00615.301, Reduced Widow(er)'s Benefits; SSA POMS RS 00615.320, RIB-LIM; SSA POMS RS 00615.305, Estimating Reduced Widow(er) Benefits; SSA Publication 05-10084, Survivors Benefits (April 2025); ssa.gov/benefits/survivors.
Frequently asked questions
How much is the survivor benefit at age 60?
71.5% of the worker's basic benefit amount. It rises each month you wait until you reach your survivor full retirement age, when it is 100%.
What is the survivor full retirement age?
It is 66 for people born 1945 to 1956, rises by two months a year for births 1957 to 1962, and is 67 for anyone born after 1 January 1962. It is not always the same as the age for retirement benefits.
What if my spouse claimed Social Security early?
Your benefit is limited by the RIB-LIM rule: the larger of 82.5% of their PIA or the reduced amount they were receiving. You still cannot get more than the age-adjusted amount, so the lower of the two figures applies.
Can I remarry and keep survivor benefits?
If you remarry at 60 or later (50 if disabled), you keep the benefit on your former spouse's record. Remarry before that and the surviving-spouse benefit stops. At 62 you may also be able to claim on your new spouse's record if that is higher.
Can I take survivor benefits first and my own later?
Often yes: SSA says that if you get benefits on your own record it checks whether you can get more as a surviving spouse, and you get the higher combined amount. This tool does not compare the two, so ask SSA at 1-800-772-1213.
Do children and parents get survivor benefits?
Unmarried children under 18 (19 if in school, any age if disabled before 22) get 75% of the worker's benefit amount. Dependent parents age 62 or older can also qualify if the worker supplied at least half their support; SSA sets the amount, so confirm it with them.
Estimate only — not an SSA decision
This tool applies SSA's published formulas to the figures you enter. SSA decides your real benefit and may adjust it for the family maximum, earnings and your own record. Use your my Social Security account or an SSA office for the final amount.