Social Security takes into consideration the previous income that the person who died had. Therefore, it is mainly based on his or her lifetime earnings. If that person did not pay much to Social Segurity, the amount you will receive will be low. On the contrary, if the person paid a lot of money to SS, the payment will be higher for you. Here we can see how important it is to make the required payments to SS, to prevent things like low benefits.
When it comes to getting 100% of the amount of a Survivor benefit due to the death of a worker, the widow/er needs to be at full retirement age. They could also be older though. If they are aged 60 to full retirement age, they can get from 71% to 99%. Thus, age is important to get a higher payment. The older you are and the closer to full retirement age, the more you get from Social Security.
Those who have a disability and are widows or widowers need to be 50 to 59 to get a bit more than 71%. It might be the case that you are in charge of a child. If this child or children are up to 16, you can get 75%. Some of you might be divorced. So, if you happen to be a surviving divorced spouse, the percentages are just the same. They are just like the ones we have explained before. According to Congressional Research Service, the average monthly benefits for all survivors is %1,325.68. So, it could be less than that or more.
Could I get lump-sum death benefits from Social Security?
Once you have learned the different possibilities to get a Survivor benefit as a widow or widower, you can move on to the next question. Needless to say that prices have gone up for essential goods and services. Therefore, we need to do as much as we can to check that we can have access to any available support from Social Security. We all know that it is for your benefit, but you might not be in the mood to apply for it.
There is a payment of $255, but there are some requirements to get it. The most common thing is that the spouse that lived with the person who died gets it. You could also get it if you lived apart. The thing is you had to be getting benefits on the worker’s record during his or her last month. Or else, you got a benefit upon the worker’s death during that previous month before he or she died.
In the event of not having a spouse, their child or children could get this lump sum from Social Security. If they were receiving any type of benefit on the worker’s record or if they got a benefit again upon the worker’s passing. It had to be during the month of the worker’s departure from life. If neither the spouse nor the children are getting benefits, you will have to apply for it. Do not forget that you only have two years to sort it out after his passing.