Social Security Survivor Benefits Calculator

The starting point is the deceased's primary insurance amount (PIA), their benefit at full retirement age. If they earned delayed retirement credits, by starting after full retirement age or by dying after it without having started, SSA uses their benefit with those credits instead, counting credits up to but not including the month of death. Someone with a $2,000 PIA and a full retirement age of 67 who died at 68 and 6 months without claiming leaves a base of $2,240.

That base is cut for each month the survivor benefit starts before survivor full retirement age: 28.5% times the months early, divided by the months from 60 to survivor full retirement age. In the example in 20 CFR 404.410(c)(1), a $785.70 widow's benefit started 16 months before a full retirement age of 65 and 4 months (64 months after 60) is reduced by $55.98, rounded up to $56.00, leaving $729.70. SSA then rounds the monthly payment down to the whole dollar.

A widow(er) with a disability can start from 50, at 71.5%, the same as at 60. A surviving spouse caring for the deceased's child who is under 16 or disabled can get 75% at any age, without the age reduction.

If the deceased had started a reduced retirement benefit, the survivor's benefit is limited to the larger of what the deceased would be getting if alive or 82.5% of their PIA. The limit applies only when the age-reduced survivor benefit would be more than both. In SSA's example (POMS RS 00615.320), a worker with a $374.90 PIA was getting a reduced $350; 82.5% of the PIA is $309.20, so the spouse, filing for widow(er)'s benefits at 66, gets $350.

If you qualify for both a survivor benefit and your own retirement benefit, SSA pays the higher one, not both. Unlike spouse's benefits, deemed filing does not apply: you can restrict your application to the survivor benefit and leave your own benefit to grow, or take your own first. SSA's own example is starting with survivor benefits and changing to retirement at 70 when that payment is highest. The two benefits are figured separately, so taking one early does not reduce the other.

Which order pays more depends on the size of your own benefit. With a $2,000 survivor base and a full retirement age of 67 for both benefits:

The total paid to survivors on one record is limited. When the benefits add up to more, each is cut in proportion before any reduction for age. For a worker who dies in 2026 before 62, or turns 62 in 2026, the limit is 150% of the first $1,643 of the PIA, 272% of the PIA from there to $2,371, 134% up to $3,093 and 175% above that, rounded down to the dime. For a worker who reached 62 in another year, SSA uses that year's bend points, so these figures are exact only for 2026.

If the worker was fully or currently insured, SSA makes a one-time payment of $255. It goes to the widow(er) who was living in the same household. If there is no such widow(er), it goes to a widow(er) entitled to benefits on the record for the month of death, and if there is none, it is split among the children entitled to benefits for that month. Apply within 2 years of the death; a spouse already getting spouse's benefits on the record does not need to apply again.

It works out the widow(er)'s or surviving divorced spouse's benefit from 60 on, from the PIA you enter, and compares the two switching orders. It does not cover disabled survivors under 60, a surviving spouse caring for a child, children's or parents' benefits within the family maximum, the earnings test, or the special PIA SSA may compute when a worker dies before 62. Benefits are in today's dollars, and delayed credits are counted in full from the first month. SSA can give you an estimate by phone at 1-800-772-1213 if you give them the deceased's Social Security number.

For your own retirement benefit at each age, see the Social Security break-even calculator; while both spouses are alive, the spousal benefits calculator shows the spouse's benefit.