Social Security: Spousal & Survivor Benefits

Social Security is not just an individual benefit — it is a family benefit system designed to provide income security for spouses and survivors. For married couples, understanding how spousal and survivor benefits work opens the door to planning strategies that can add tens of thousands of dollars to your combined lifetime income. Even for divorced individuals, there may be benefits available based on a former spouse’s earnings record.

This guide walks through how these benefits are calculated, who is eligible, and how couples can coordinate their claiming decisions to make the most of the system.

Spousal Benefits Explained

Social Security spousal benefits allow a husband or wife to receive a benefit based on their spouse’s earnings record, even if they have little or no work history of their own. The maximum spousal benefit is 50% of the higher-earning spouse’s Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) — the benefit they would receive at their Full Retirement Age.

To qualify for spousal benefits, the following conditions must be met:

• You must be married to the worker (or have been married for at least one year).
• You must be at least 62 years old (or caring for a child under 16 or a disabled child).
• Your spouse must have already filed for their own Social Security benefits.

If you are eligible for both your own retirement benefit and a spousal benefit, the SSA will pay you the higher of the two — not both combined. You do not get to choose; the calculation is automatic. If your own benefit at FRA is less than 50% of your spouse’s PIA, you will receive a spousal top-up to bring your total to the spousal benefit level.

Claiming spousal benefits before your FRA reduces the amount, just as it does with your own retirement benefit. At age 62, the spousal benefit is reduced to approximately 32.5% of the worker’s PIA rather than the full 50%.

Spousal Benefit Calculation Examples

The table below shows how the SSA determines what you receive when both your own benefit and a spousal benefit are available. In each scenario, the SSA compares your own retirement benefit at FRA with 50% of your spouse’s PIA and pays the higher amount.

Notice that when your own benefit exceeds 50% of your spouse’s PIA, spousal benefits provide no additional income. This is common in dual-income households where both spouses had strong earning histories. However, in households where one spouse earned significantly more or the other took time away from the workforce, spousal benefits can provide a meaningful boost.

Survivor Benefits

Survivor benefits are among the most valuable — and often overlooked — components of Social Security. When one spouse dies, the surviving spouse is entitled to receive up to 100% of the deceased spouse’s benefit amount, including any delayed retirement credits the deceased had earned.

To be eligible for survivor benefits, the surviving spouse must:

• Have been married to the deceased for at least 9 months (with some exceptions, such as accidental death).
• Be at least 60 years old (or 50 if disabled).
• Not be currently married before age 60 (remarriage after 60 does not affect eligibility).

The surviving spouse receives the higher of their own benefit or the deceased spouse’s benefit — not both. This is why the higher earner’s claiming decision is so critical. When that person delays to age 70, they are not just maximizing their own benefit; they are also setting the floor for the survivor benefit that will protect their spouse for potentially decades.

Survivor Benefit Amounts by Claiming Age

Just as with retirement and spousal benefits, survivor benefits are reduced if claimed before the survivor’s Full Retirement Age. The table below shows the percentage of the deceased spouse’s benefit that a survivor would receive at various ages.

If the surviving spouse waits until their own FRA, they receive the full amount of the deceased spouse’s benefit. Note that there are no delayed retirement credits available for survivor benefits — waiting past FRA does not increase the survivor benefit further.

Coordination Strategies for Couples

The interplay between retirement benefits, spousal benefits, and survivor benefits creates opportunities for strategic coordination. Here are several approaches couples should consider:

Higher Earner Delays, Lower Earner Claims Early. This is one of the most effective strategies for many couples. The lower-earning spouse claims their own benefit at 62 to provide household income, while the higher-earning spouse delays to 70. This maximizes the larger benefit, which becomes the survivor benefit for whichever spouse lives longer.

Consider the Survivor Benefit. When one spouse will rely heavily on Social Security, the higher earner’s delayed claiming effectively purchases longevity insurance for the survivor. If the higher earner delays from 67 to 70, the survivor benefit increases by 24% — a boost that lasts for the remainder of the surviving spouse’s life.

Claim Survivor Benefit First, Then Switch. A surviving spouse who is eligible for both a survivor benefit and their own retirement benefit may be able to claim the survivor benefit early and then switch to their own (larger) benefit at 70. This strategy allows them to collect income while their own delayed retirement credits continue to grow.

Benefits for Divorced Spouses

If your marriage ended in divorce, you may still be eligible for spousal or survivor benefits based on your ex-spouse’s record. Many people are unaware of this provision, and it can be especially valuable for individuals who left the workforce during their marriage.

Divorced spouse benefits follow the same 50% maximum and early claiming reduction rules as regular spousal benefits. If you remarry before age 60, you generally lose eligibility for benefits on your former spouse’s record (though you may gain eligibility on your new spouse’s record). Remarriage after age 60 does not affect survivor benefits from a deceased ex-spouse.

One often-missed detail: if you were married to more than one person for at least 10 years each, you may be eligible for benefits based on whichever ex-spouse’s record provides the highest payment. The SSA will calculate based on the most advantageous record.

Whether you are married, widowed, or divorced, the spousal and survivor provisions of Social Security represent a significant source of potential retirement income that is worth understanding thoroughly before making any claiming decisions.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. All information should be discussed with a qualified financial advisor before implementation.