The Critical Social Security Decision You May Have to Make After Your Spouse Dies

Grief isn’t the only thing losing a spouse triggers. You also have to make some big financial decisions, including whether to keep on with your Social Security retirement benefit or switch to a spousal benefit. You probably want to maximize your income, but there’s no single strategy that works best for everyone.

Making the correct call between a retirement and a survivor benefit depends on understanding exactly how each benefit works. Here’s what you need to know.

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Social Security retirement vs. survivor benefits

A Social Security retirement benefit is the benefit you qualify for based on your own work history. The more money you’ve paid Social Security payroll taxes on throughout your career, the larger your retirement benefit will be.

Married people might get a spousal benefit if they didn’t work long enough to qualify for a retirement benefit on their own, or if the spousal benefit, worth up to one-half of the benefit their partner qualified for at their full retirement age (FRA), is larger than their own retirement benefit. But you cannot claim a spousal benefit once your partner has died.

Spousal benefits automatically convert to survivor benefits, worth up to 100% of what your spouse was receiving at the time of their death. If your spousal benefit was larger than your own retirement benefit, your survivor benefit will be, too. But those who had been claiming their own retirement checks face a more complicated choice.

You can continue on your own retirement benefit and postpone claiming your survivor benefit until your FRA, allowing it to grow further. This could be the right decision if you’re trying to optimize your lifetime benefits, and your maximum survivor benefit would be worth more than your retirement checks.

If you haven’t yet claimed retirement or survivor benefits, you’ll have a choice of which to sign up for first. Again, if you can get by on the smaller of the two benefits for now, that’s probably your better play. Allow the other benefit to continue growing until you max it out (FRA for survivor benefits, 70 for retirement benefits), and then switch over.

How to switch your Social Security benefit

You can switch between Social Security benefit types by contacting the Social Security Administration over the phone or by visiting your local Social Security office. You’ll need to provide copies of your marriage certificate and your spouse’s death certificate if you’re switching to a survivor benefit.

Remember, it’s difficult to undo your Social Security claiming decision once you’ve signed up, so think through your options carefully first. A Social Security Administration representative may be able to help you figure out which benefit type is more advantageous to you if you’re not sure.