Lump-sum benefit: If the deceased worker was fully insured (forty quarters of credits) or currently insured (six quarters of credits), a lump-sum survivor benefit will be paid to eligible survivors. A monthly lump sum of $255 is available to the surviving resident spouse, nonresident spouse, or children eligible for the monthly benefits.

Widow(er)’s benefits: A benefit of up to 100 percent of the PIA of the fully insured, deceased spouse will be paid to the surviving spouse who is at least age sixty and who was married to the deceased spouse for at least nine months. The surviving spouse is generally eligible if he or she is not remarried and is not entitled to retirement benefits (for his or her covered employment) in at least the amount of the deceased spouse’s PIA. If the worker dies before receiving benefits, the surviving spouse of full retirement age is entitled to a benefit of 100 percent of the deceased worker’s PIA.

A surviving spouse between the ages of sixty and sixty-five (below the FRA) would receive reduced benefits of 19 to 40 percent per month each month until the spouse turned sixty-five (71.5 percent of the PIA would be received at age sixty). If a worker dies after Social Security benefits have begun, the surviving spouse’s benefit cannot exceed the amount being paid at the time of death. A widow(er)’s benefit terminates at death or at eligibility for an equal or greater retirement benefit.

Child’s benefits: Child’s benefits terminate at age eighteen, at marriage, or at death. The dependent child of a fully or currently insured worker will receive a benefit of 75 percent of the worker’s PIA (this amount is subject to the family maximum) under at least one of the following circumstances: if the child is under age eighteen (or age nineteen if the child is a full-time high school student) and not married, or if the child is over age eighteen and has been disabled since before age twenty-two.

Mother’s or father’s benefit: The surviving spouse of a fully or currently insured worker is eligible to receive a benefit of 75 percent of the worker’s PIA if that surviving spouse is caring for a child who is under age sixteen or a child who was disabled before age twenty-two (the benefit amount is subject to the family maximum). The benefit is paid until the youngest child reaches sixteen or marries or until the surviving spouse dies or remarries.