Widow / Widower Benefit Calculator

Last updated July 2, 2026

Survivor benefits from Social Security are among the most financially significant and least-planned-for elements of the retirement income picture. When a married Social Security recipient dies, the surviving spouse can claim 100 percent of the deceased's benefit — if that's larger than their own — rather than the 50 percent available as a spousal benefit during the other's lifetime. This makes the higher earner's claiming age a lifelong financial decision for both partners, not just for the person whose record it is. A higher earner who claimed at 62 and received $1,600 per month leaves a $1,600 survivor benefit. One who delayed to 70 and received $2,480 leaves a $2,480 survivor benefit — an $880 per month difference that the surviving spouse may receive for 15 or 20 years.

The survivor benefit can be claimed as early as 60 (or 50 with a disability), but claiming before full retirement age reduces it. Remarriage before age 60 generally forfeits survivor benefits from the prior marriage; remarriage after 60 does not. Widows and widowers have a timing option not available to other beneficiaries: they can claim their own worker benefit first, let it grow, then switch to the survivor benefit — or vice versa — depending on which sequence produces better lifetime income. Working with the SSA or a Social Security planner to model both sequences is particularly valuable when one benefit is substantially larger than the other.

The survivor benefit may be the largest single element of lifetime Social Security income for whichever spouse lives longer, and its size depends directly on when the higher earner claimed. Model the survivor scenario explicitly — not as an afterthought — when making Social Security timing decisions for a married couple.