When my husband died, I was surprised to learn that the government will pay Social Security Survivor benefits to the spouses, ex-spouses and children of someone who worked and paid Social Security taxes before they died, as long as they meet certain criteria and apply for them. These are the available benefits:

Lump Sum Death Payment

There is a one-time payment of $255 made to spouses soon after the death is reported. The small size and randomness of the amount confused me, partly because I wasn’t expecting a check at all. Since funeral homes typically report deaths to the Social Security Administration (SSA), the check might just appear one day in your mailbox, as it did for me. You need to report the death within two years to receive this.

Monthly Survivor Benefit Payments

There are also monthly benefit payments that you need to apply for to receive:

Family Member	Criteria	How Much You Receive
Surviving spouse or ex-spouse who is a caretaker of the deceased’s child	Any age and with a child younger than age 16	75% of your spouse’s benefit, provided you do not exceed the earnings limit*
Surviving spouse (who didn’t remarry before age 60) or ex-spouse (married for at least 10 years)	Age 60 to full retirement age (age 66-67)	71.5% to 99% of your spouse’s benefit, depending on your age, provided you do not exceed the earnings limit*
Surviving spouse (who didn’t remarry before age 60) or ex-spouse (married for at least 10 years)	Full retirement age (age 66-67) or older	100% of your spouse’s benefit
Children	Under the age of 18 (unless still in high school), or any age if disabled before age 22	75% of the parent’s benefit per child, unless the family maximum** is reached. The earnings limit* also applies but doesn’t affect most children.

*What is the Earnings Limit?
If you are under full retirement age, your benefit payment is affected if you earn more than $22,320 per year or $1,860 per month in 2024. For every $2 earned over the earnings limit, Social Security deducts $1 from your benefit. Read more about my experience receiving survivor benefits due to the Special Earnings Limit Rule.

**What is the Family Maximum?
There’s a limit to how much Social Security Survivor benefits the family of a deceased worker can receive – the “family maximum.” The limit varies between 150% and 180% of the deceased worker’s benefit amount. If three family members are receiving benefits, they will come up against the family maximum. Everyone’s payments might be reduced to stay under this limit. Payments to ex-spouses don’t count toward the family maximum. Read more detail on the formula on the SSA website.

The rules to receiving Social Security Survivor benefits are complex, and there are exceptions to the above guidelines. For example, if you are a surviving spouse with a disability, you can receive survivor benefits if you are over the age of 50 (rather than 60). You can find more detail on the official Social Security website.

Disclaimer: I am not a Social Security expert. Your best bet is to call the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213 or make an appointment with your local Social Security office to apply for benefits. However, if the Social Security representative tells you something that doesn’t seem correct, it’s worth calling again and talking to someone else. When I had questions on the Special Earnings Limit Rule a few years ago, I received different answers from different representatives.