Most people pay into Social Security their whole working lives to ensure they’ll get benefits that will help them live well when they retire. If someone dies before they can get benefits, they might never get back any money they put into the program.
This articles encloses everything you need to know about the Social Security benefits for the child of a deceased parent.
Key points
- Social Security is a program that gives seniors who paid Social Security taxes while they were working money when they retire.
- If someone dies and they have minor children, those children can get their deceased parent’s Social Security benefits.
- For a child to get Social Security benefits from a deceased parent, the deceased parent must have worked for a certain number of years, and the child must be younger than a certain age.
Most people pay into Social Security their whole working lives to ensure they’ll get benefits that will help them live well when they retire. If someone dies before they can get benefits, they might never get back any money they put into the program.
Still, if someone dies before they can start getting Social Security benefits, their family may still be able to use those benefits to take care of them. These are called “survivor benefits.”
How do things work with Social Security?
In 1935, the Social Security Administration was set up to give seniors a steady income after they retired. Everyone who works pays a tax on Social Security. In return, everyone who meets specific work requirements gets money when they retire.
The amount of money a person can get from Social Security when they retire is based on their 35 best years of earnings.
Social Security retirement benefits are unlike the individual retirement account (IRA) or 401(k), where the money you put in goes into an account just for you. Instead, all of the money is put together and used to pay the benefits for people who are already retired.
Based on what you make, your spouse, children, and parents might be able to get benefits. (Photo: shutterstock.com)
What kind of Social Security benefits does a child get from deceased parent?
The main purpose of Social Security retirement benefits is to help people who have reached retirement age. But there are other ways someone can get benefits. For example, if a deceased parent gets Social Security before they died, their children may be able to get what is called “survivor benefits.”
The work history of the deceased parent determines how much the child can earn. But they won’t be able to get the full benefit that their parents would have gotten when they retired. Instead, children who meet the requirements for survivor benefits can get 75% of the benefits their parents got before they died.
Even though a child can’t get all of the benefits from a deceased parent, the other parent may be able to. When they reach full retirement age, widows and widowers can get all of their late spouse’s benefits.
People under the full retirement age of at least 60 may earn up to 99% of the benefit of their spouse.
Lastly, widows or widowers who are taking care of a child below 6 yrs old can get 75% of the benefits that their late spouse got. So, if one spouse dies and leaves behind a spouse and a child, the surviving spouse and child could get 150% of the benefits of the deceased spouse.
How do you get Social Security benefits from your parent?
Before a child can get Social Security benefits after a parent dies, the parent must first be eligible for them. For a parent to be eligible for full benefits, they must have earned at least 40 work credits, which usually means they have worked for at least ten years.
After less than ten years of work, someone may be eligible for some benefits but not the full amount.
A child must be under 18 to receive benefits from a deceased parent. If a child is a full-time student in elementary or secondary school, they can get benefits until they turn 19. Lastly, a child may be eligible if they are over 18 and have been disabled before they turned 22.
How to get payments?
A parent will need the birth certificate of the child or another document showing proof of birth or adoption in order to apply for Social Security survivor benefits for the child. Also, they will need to give the Social Security numbers of both the child and the deceased parent.
In some cases, you also need to show other papers. For example, if you are applying on behalf of a child with a disability, you will also need to show proof of the disability.
When you already have the required paperwork, you can call 1-800-772-1213 to apply. You can’t report a death or ask for benefits for survivors online.
When do survivor benefits end?
Getting survivor’s benefits for a deceased parent depends on the person’s situation. Most people can only get benefits until they turn 18. For elementary and high school students, benefits may be available until age of 19, or longer if a disability is found before age 22.
There isn’t usually a time limit on how long a surviving spouse can get benefits. Widows and widowers who aren’t old enough to get retirement benefits can get survivor benefits until their child turns 16. But surviving spouses who reach the minimum age to get retirement benefits can get them for the rest of their lives based on their deceased spouse’s work record.
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