Can I collect Social Security survivor benefits when my ex-spouse dies?

You qualify for survivor benefits on the work record of a late former spouse if:

• The marriage lasted at least 10 years.
• You are at least 60 years old (at least 50 if you have a disability), or you are caring for a child from the marriage who is under 16 or has a disability that began before age 22 (in which case there is no age or length-of-marriage minimum).
• You are single or, if you have remarried, you did not do so until after you turned 60 (50 if you have a disability).

As with widows and widowers, you are entitled to collect 100 percent of the amount your ex was getting from Social Security if you have reached full retirement age (FRA) for survivors — that's 66 and 4 months for survivors born in 1958, 66 and 6 months for those born in 1959, and gradually rising to 67 for those born in 1962 or after. (If the deceased never claimed benefits, you will get what they were eligible to receive.) 

If you claim survivor benefits at the typical minimum age of 60, you get 71.5 percent of the deceased ex-spouse’s benefit. The percentage rises incrementally for each month you wait up to FRA.

If you are eligible at a younger age because you care for children from the marriage, the survivor benefit is 75 percent of your former spouse’s benefit.

Even if you’ve already claimed your own Social Security retirement benefit, you can still apply for survivor benefits when a former spouse dies. However, you will not receive both benefits combined. When someone qualifies for two benefits, Social Security pays the higher amount.

Keep in mind

• If your late ex-spouse took reduced benefits by filing for Social Security early, you may qualify for the highest possible share of those benefits — that is, the highest possible survivor benefit — before your own FRA. If this is your situation, call the Social Security Administration at 800-772-1213 to see how it will affect your survivor benefit.
• Survivor benefits paid to you as a divorced spouse do not affect payments to the late beneficiary’s widow or widower or other former spouses.