Key Takeaways
- The average widow or widower living alone gets about $2,005 a month in January 2027.
- Surviving spouses can claim at 60, starting at 71.5% and rising to 100% at survivor FRA.
- Each eligible child gets about 75% of the worker's benefit, subject to a family maximum.
- You can take a survivor benefit first and switch to your own retirement benefit later.
The average Social Security benefit for a widow or widower living alone rises to about $2,005 a month in January 2027, after the 3.6% COLA. A widowed parent with two children averages about $4,074 as a household.
What you get depends on the worker’s record, your age when you claim and who else in the family qualifies. Here’s how survivor benefits work for 2027.
Who Can Get Survivor Benefits
Spouses can claim at 60, or at 50 if disabled, if the marriage lasted at least nine months. Remarrying before 60 (50 if disabled) generally ends eligibility.
Divorced spouses qualify the same way if the marriage lasted at least 10 years. Their benefit doesn’t reduce what a current spouse receives.
A spouse caring for the worker’s child under 16 or disabled can collect at any age.
Children qualify if they’re unmarried and under 18, 18 or 19 and still in high school full time, or disabled before 22.
Dependent parents 62 or older who relied on the worker for at least half their support can qualify too, though it’s less common.
How Much a Surviving Spouse Gets
A surviving spouse gets between 71.5% and 100% of what the worker was receiving, or was entitled to, at death. The percentage depends on when you claim:
| Claim at | Share of worker’s benefit |
|---|---|
| 60 | 71.5% |
| 62 | about 80% |
| 64 | about 88% |
| Survivor FRA | 100% |
Survivor full retirement age is 67 for anyone born in 1962 or later, and a few months earlier for people born from 1957 to 1961. It’s on a separate table from your own retirement FRA.
Diane, 61, lost her husband, who was getting $2,400 a month. If she claims now, she gets about 76%, roughly $1,815. If she waits until her survivor FRA, she gets the full $2,400, plus any COLAs in between.
One more wrinkle: if the worker claimed early, the survivor’s benefit can be capped at the larger of what the worker was getting or 82.5% of their full benefit.
How Much Children Get
Each eligible child generally gets 75% of the deceased parent’s full benefit. A surviving parent caring for a child under 16 also gets 75%, at any age.
There’s a ceiling called the family maximum, usually between 150% and 180% of the worker’s benefit. When the family’s total goes over it, SSA reduces each person’s payment proportionally.
Mark and his two children, 9 and 12, lose their mother, whose full benefit was $2,000. At 75% each, all three would get $1,500, or $4,500 total.
If her family maximum is $3,500, SSA cuts each payment to about $1,167. An ex-spouse collecting on the same record isn’t counted in that cap.
Get Social Security survivor updates by email
I post when SSA changes survivor rules, when the 2028 COLA is set and when Congress moves on the trust fund.
Free. You’ll get my new posts, including these updates. Unsubscribe anytime, and check your spam folder for the confirmation email.
The $255 Lump-Sum Death Payment
SSA also pays a one-time $255 to an eligible surviving spouse, or to an eligible child if there’s no spouse. You have to apply within two years of the death, and it’s on top of monthly benefits.
That amount hasn’t changed since 1954, and the COLA doesn’t touch it. Funeral homes often report the death to SSA, but they don’t apply for this payment for you.
Switching Between Survivor and Your Own Benefit
If you qualify for a survivor benefit and your own retirement benefit, SSA doesn’t add them. You get the higher one, but you can take one first and switch to the other later.
A common move: claim the survivor benefit at 60, then switch to your own retirement benefit at 70 if delayed credits make it larger.
It can work the other way too, claiming your own reduced benefit at 62 and switching to a full survivor benefit at survivor FRA. My guide on when to claim Social Security walks through the age math.
If you or your spouse had a government pension, the Social Security Fairness Act ended the Government Pension Offset starting with January 2024 benefits. Many widows and widowers who were cut to $0 now qualify.
Survivor Mistakes I See Most Often
Waiting to apply. Survivor benefits usually can’t be paid retroactively for more than six months, and sometimes less. Apply soon after the death, even if you plan to switch later.
Assuming your own FRA applies. Survivor FRA is on a different schedule, and the gap can matter when you’re timing a switch.
Missing the $255 deadline. It’s small, but it’s gone after two years.
Remarrying before 60 without knowing the rule. It generally ends survivor eligibility on the earlier spouse’s record. Remarrying at 60 or later doesn’t.
Not checking for SSI. If the survivor benefit is small and you have few assets, you may also qualify for SSI, which rises to $1,029 a month for an individual in 2027.
What Changes for Survivors in 2028
The percentages and age rules are set by law and don’t change year to year. What moves is the dollar amount, through the COLA.
The 2027 increase is 3.6%, paid starting January 2027; my 2027 Social Security COLA breakdown has the details. The 2028 COLA will be announced in mid-October 2027. No one has a reliable forecast yet, but a 2% to 3% increase would lift the average widow’s check to roughly $2,045 to $2,065.
The bigger risk is the trust fund. It’s projected to run short in late 2032, when payroll taxes would cover about 78% of scheduled benefits, survivors included, unless Congress acts.
Payment days don’t change for survivors; my Social Security payment schedule by birth date has the 2027 calendar. If the worker was on disability, my SSDI back pay guide explains how any money owed at death is handled.
