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  • Home
  • Welcome
    • About Us
    • Our Mission
    • TESTIMONIALS
    • News Letters
    • Blog
  • U65 & Ancillary
    • Ind/Fam Plans U65
    • Group Census Info
    • Quotes
    • Dental & Vision
    • Accident
    • Critical Illness
    • Disability
    • Final Expense
    • Pet Insurance
  • MEDICARE
    • Medicare
    • PARTS OF MEDICARE
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    • Meet IRMAA
    • Enroll in MEDICARE
    • Medicare 101 Videos
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    • Part D - Prescription
    • Wellness & Physical Exams
    • Quotes for Medicare
    • Medicare DOESN'T Cover
    • Extra HELP
    • Penalties/Appeals
    • Social Security
    • Medicaid
    • Home Health Care
    • Help / Gov Sites
    • Senior Websites
    • WellBe Health Asst
    • LINKS
    • AARP Membership
    • Away from USA
    • Medicare Mentor Program
  • National General Life
    • RETIREMENT
    • NLG
    • Life Insurance
    • Life Insurance_2
    • Gift of Life
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  • ValuTeachers
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APPLYING FOR SOCIAL SECURITY

What you'll need

Widower benefit

Social Security Benefit

What happens to my Spouses Benefits when they pass away

SOCIAL SECURITY

KEY POINTS

 

  • In most cases, funeral homes notify the government that a person has passed away.
  • If the person was receiving Social Security benefits, a payment is not due for the month of their death.
  • Survivor benefits may be available, depending on several factors.

When a Loved one passes

 When a loved one receiving Social Security benefits passes away, you may wonder how the government knows to stop sending that monthly money.

Or, maybe there’s a surviving spouse or dependent who relied on that income and wonders whether some sort of payment can continue.

While Social Security rules can be complicated, the bottom line is that the decedent’s benefits stop at death. For survivors, how to get benefits — or whether you qualify — depends on several factors.

First, it’s important for the Social Security Administration to be alerted as soon as possible after the person dies.

In most cases, funeral homes notify the government. There’s a form available that those businesses use to report the death.

“The person serving as executor [of the estate] or the surviving spouse can also call Social Security,” said certified financial planner Peggy Sherman, a lead advisor at Briaud Financial Advisors in College Station, Texas.

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There are a couple of things to keep in mind. For starters, a person is due no Social Security benefits for the month of their death. “Any benefit that’s paid after the month of the person’s death needs to be refunded,” Sherman said. With Social Security, each payment received represents the previous month’s benefits. So if a person dies in January, the check for that month — which would be paid in February — would need to be returned if received. If the payment is made by direct deposit, the bank holding the account should be notified so it can return benefits sent after the person’s death.

 

It may be no surprise that using someone else’s benefits after they die is a federal crime, regardless of whether the death was reported or not. If the Social Security Administration receives notice that fraud might be happening, the allegation is reviewed and potentially will warrant a criminal investigation. To combat duplicity, the agency matches records with other government entities to identify unreported deaths.


As for benefits available to survivors: If a spouse or qualifying dependent already was receiving money based on the deceased’s record, the benefit will auto-convert to survivors benefits when the government gets notice of the death, Sherman said.

“For all other cases, the surviving spouse will need to call Social Security and schedule an appointment to apply for survivors benefits,” Sherman said. “You cannot do this online

 

If the widow or widower has reached their own full retirement age, they can get their deceased spouse’s full benefit, Sherman said. They can apply for reduced benefits as early as age 60, in contrast to the standard earliest claiming age of 62.

If the survivor qualifies for Social Security on their own record, they can switch to their own benefit anytime between ages 62 and 70 if their own payment would be more.

An ex-spouse of the decedent also might be able to claim benefits, as long as they meet some specific qualifications.

For minor children of a person who died, benefits also may be available, as well as to a surviving spouse who is caring for the kids.


Finally, upon the death of a Social Security recipient, survivors are generally given a lump sum payment of $255.

RESOURCES

 

General information on Social Security retirement benefits

  • Social Security Retirement Benefits
  • SSA Publication No. 05-10035
  • A “Snapshot.” SSA Publication No. 05-10006
  • Social Security Retirement Planner
  • Learn About Social Insurance

How benefits are calculated

  • How You Earn Credits. SSA Publication No. 05-10072
  • Understanding the Benefits. SSA Publication No. 05-10024
  • Your Retirement Benefit: How It Is Figured. SSA Publication No. 05-10070
  • Social Security Benefit Amounts
  • Full retirement age and benefit reductions by year of birth
  • Maximum taxable earnings, 1937-present
  • How To Correct Your Social Security Earnings Record. SSA Publication No. 05-10081

Benefit calculators

  • My Social Security: Create an Account
  • SSA benefit calculators
  • Retirement Estimator
  • How to Use the Online Retirement Estimator. SSA Publication No. 05-10511
  • Full retirement age calculator based on year of birth
  • Early or late retirement calculator
  • Retirement earnings test calculator
  • Windfall Elimination Provision online calculator

When to claim benefits

  • When To Start Receiving Retirement Benefits. SSA Publication No. 05-10147
  • Delayed retirement credits
  • Other things to consider
  • The Social Security Claiming Guide
  • Boost Your Social Security Payout By $100,000 - CBS MoneyWatch.com
  • Planning Your Retirement: How to Take Spousal Benefits - CBS MoneyWatch.com
  • Center for Retirement Research: Trends in Social Security Claiming 2015

Working and Social Security benefits

  • How Work Affects Your Benefits. SSA Publication No. 05-10069
  • How the Earnings Test Works

Coordinating spousal benefits

  • Benefits for your spouse
  • Benefits for your divorced spouse
  • “Husbands Should Consider Delaying Social Security Benefits” by Sandra Block, USA Today
  • “Strange But True: Claim Social Security Now, Claim More Later,” Center for Retirement Research at Boston College
  • “Social Security ‘Loopholes’ Closing,” Elaine Floyd Savvy Social Security newsletter

Survivor benefits

  • Survivors Benefits. SSA Publication No. 05-10084
  • How Social Security Can Help You When A Family Member Dies. SSA Publication No. 05-10008.
  • Survivors Planner

Dependents benefits

  • Benefits For Children. SSA Publication No. 05-10085
  • Benefits For Children With Disabilities. SSA Publication No. 05-10026

Cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs)

  • Overview of COLAs
  • Latest COLA
  • Application of COLA to a Retirement Benefit
  • COLA estimates by Social Security trustees
  • Historical COLAs going back to 1975
  • CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) going back to 1974
  • General inflation information - lots of interesting data
  • City cost of living calculator
  • Automatic Determinations in Recent Years

Taxation of benefits

  • IRS Publication 915, “Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits.”
  • IRS Publication 554, “Tax Guide for Seniors.”
  • Social Security: Calculation and History of Taxing Benefits
  • IRS Publication 963, “Federal-State Reference Guide”

Women and Social Security

  • What Every Woman Should Know. SSA Publication No. 05-10127
  • “Women and Social Security,” American Academy of Actuaries Issue Brief
  • “Social Security: Why Boomer Women Need More,” by Heidi Hartmann, excerpted from Baby Boomer Women: Secure Futures or Not?

How to apply for benefits

  • Apply Online For Social Security Benefits, SSA Publication No. 05-10032
  • Social Security Forms
  • What You Need To Know When You Get Retirement Or Survivors Benefits. SSA Publication No. 05-10077
  • A Guide For Representative Payees. SSA Publication No. 05-10076
  • Overpayments. SSA Publication No. 05-10098
  • What You Can Do Online. SSA Publication No. 05-10121

Special situations

  • If You Are Self-Employed. SSA Publication No. 05-10022
  • How State And Local Government Employees Are Covered By Social Security And Medicare. SSA Publication No. 05-10051
  • If You Work For A Nonprofit Organization. SSA Publication No. 05-10027
  • Windfall Elimination Provision. SSA Publication No. 05-10045
  • Government Pension Offset. SSA Publication No. 05-10007
  • How International Agreements Can Help You. SSA Publication No. 05-10180
  • Military Service And Social Security SSA Publication No. 05-10017
  • Special Payments After Retirement. SSA Publication No. 05-10063
  • Your Payments While You Are Outside the United States. SSA Publication No. 05-10137
  • Social Security International Programs: International Programs and Resources

Trust fund financing and reform proposals

  • Status of the Social Security and Medicare Programs: A Summary of the latest Annual Reports
  • Recent Trustees Reports
  • Social Security Trust Fund Data
  • Trust Fund FAQs
  • Provisions that Could Change the Social Security Program
  • Updated Long-Term Projections for Social Security, Congressional Budget Office
  • “Building on Social Security’s Success,” by Virginia P. Reno, EPI Briefing Paper

Other reference

  • Social Security Program Fact Sheet
  • Fast Facts and Figures About Social Security
  • Social Security: An Essential Asset and Insurance Protection for All.” National Academy of Social Insurance
  • SSA Release on the Closure of the Social Security “Interest-Free Loan” Loophole
  • If You’re Disabled… How to Get the Social Security Benefits You Deserve -; Wealth & Retirement
  • Social Security News
  • Center for Retirement Research: Squared Away Blog
  • Center for Retirement Research: Special Projects
  • Annual Retirement Confidence Survey - EBRI
  • “Behavioral and Psychological Aspects of the Retirement Decision.” Office of Retirement and Disability Policy.
  • “6 Tricks to Make the Best Retirement Decisions,” by Robert Powell, MarketWatch. June 2014.

Medicare

  • Medicare. SSA Publication No. 05-10043
  • Medicare Resources
  • Medicare.gov - Eligibility & Premium Calculator
  • Trustees Reports - Medicare
  • Medicare Eligibility, Requirements - AARP Bulletin
  • Medicare Enrollment Deadline; Joining the Program - AARP Bulletin
  • Medicare and Other Types of Health Coverage - AARP Bulletin
  • Medicare.gov - Eligibility & Premium Calculator
  • Medicare Rights Center - Home

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