Economic insecurity was a social issue our nation addressed over 80 years ago with the enactment of the Social Security Act in 1935. The Act provides for the survivors’ benefit program: spouses, children, and dependent parents of a deceased worker are entitled to a survivor benefit on the worker’s Social Security record.
Eligibility for a survivor’s benefit is a 2-part question: (1) the question of the worker’s “insured” status, and (2) the question of the survivor’s status in relation to the worker. With few exceptions, the family of a worker will become “insured” for a survivor benefit once the worker has 40 quarters of covered earnings. Breaking this down more simply, that’s 10 years of employment where the worker earned at least $6,040 per year, or $1,510 per quarter (2022 required amounts—prior years may be lower), in wages or self-employment income. However, if the worker had income or wages not subject to the FICA tax, then the worker will not be insured. Some examples of this situation include some state employees or public-school teachers who pay into a different retirement system, or self-employed workers who fail to report their earnings.
As to part two of the eligibility question, the survivors who can make this claim include only spouses and children who can prove their legal relationship to the deceased worker. Social Security follows state laws concerning the family relationship. For a child, this could become an issue if parentage was never established during the deceased worker’s lifetime. For spouses that held out married under “common law”, but were never married in a civil ceremony, this could also pose a problem. Potential survivors who did not establish a legal relationship to the deceased worker during lifetime may need to retain legal counsel to assist them with filing the necessary state court pleadings after death to establish those relationships, before they can apply for a survivor’s benefit.
Finally, only survivors of a certain age can receive these benefits. Minor children can receive survivors benefits until they are 18 and have graduated high school. If the surviving parent was married to the deceased worker, and has care of a deceased worker’s minor child under 16, then that parent will also receive a benefit. This is true even if the surviving parent was no longer married to the worker when the death occurred. Similarly, divorced surviving spouses are entitled to a benefit if they were married at least 10 years to the worker and they did not re-marry prior to attaining the age of 60. A surviving spouse is entitled to a survivor benefit once they attain the age of 60 and as long as they do not re-marry prior to then, but the benefit is reduced if claimed prior to their own full retirement age.
There are two exceptions to the age limitations for surviving children and spouses: (1) a disabled surviving spouse is eligible to receive the survivor benefit as early as age 50 (and must apply for it within 7 years of the worker’s death), and (2) a child who became disabled prior to the age of 22 is eligible to receive survivor benefits into adulthood.
