Social Security benefits for the child of a deceased parent

Key points

• If someone dies and has minor children, their children may collect Social Security.
• To qualify for a deceased parent’s Social Security benefits, the child must be under a certain age and the parent must have worked a certain number of years.
• A child with a deceased parent can receive 75% of that parent’s benefit.

Most people contribute to Social Security for their entire working lives to ensure they’ll receive benefits to help them retire comfortably.

If someone dies before they can collect benefits, they may never get anything back from the money they put into the program.

But someone who dies before being able to collect Social Security benefits may be able to provide for their family through survivor benefits.

“In 2021, Social Security paid out monthly benefits totaling $2.8 billion to over 4 million children who qualified for survivor benefits from parents who were either retired, deceased, or disabled,” says Kevin Walton, a registered social security analyst.

How do Social Security benefits work?

The Social Security Administration was founded in 1935 to provide continuing income for seniors during retirement. 

Workers pay Social Security taxes on their income. In return, everyone who meets certain work requirements receives income during retirement. The income someone earns from Social Security retirement benefits is based on their 35 highest-earning years.

But Social Security retirement benefits don’t work like your 401(k) or individual retirement account. With a 401(k), the money you contribute goes into an account that’s just for you. But for Social Security, all the money is pooled together to pay for the benefits paid to current retirees.

What are the Social Security benefits for the child of a deceased parent?

Social Security retirement benefits are primarily designed for individuals who have reached retirement age. 

But there are other situations where someone can receive benefits. The child of a Social Security recipient may be eligible to receive survivor benefits if their parent dies, to name one example.

The amount the child of a deceased parent can earn is based on their parent’s work record. But they won’t be able to earn the full benefit their parent would have earned during retirement. Instead, a child who meets the requirements to collect survivor benefits can collect 75% of their deceased parent’s benefits.

“If the parent’s benefit before death is $2,400 per month, $1,800 per month would be the benefit for the child,” says David Freitag, a financial consultant and Social Security expert with MassMutual. “Assuming the child is 4 years old when the worker passes away, this payment could well be over $300,000, and it is adjusted for inflation each year.”

While a child can’t receive 100% of their deceased parent’s benefits, their surviving parent may be able to. Here are a few examples of the benefits surviving spouses can receive: 

• A widow or widower of full retirement age — which varies depending on a person’s birth year — can earn 100% of their deceased spouse’s benefits. 
• A widow or widower who is under the full retirement age but at least 60 can receive up to 99% of their deceased spouse’s benefit. 
• A widow or widower of any age caring for a child under 16 can earn 75% of their deceased spouse’s benefits. 

Keep in mind that there is a limit to the survivor benefits Social Security will pay to a family each month. This maximum family benefit varies between 150% and 180% of the deceased parent’s benefit amount.

How does one qualify for a parent’s Social Security benefits?

For a child to be eligible to collect survivor benefits after their parent’s death, that parent must have worked long enough in a job where they paid Social Security taxes.

The number of years a person needs to have worked for their family to be eligible to receive survivor benefits depends on their age when they died. The younger they are, the fewer years they need to have worked. No one needs more than 10 years of work to be eligible for Social Security benefits.

Walton says some employers — including certain school districts, fire departments and police departments — don’t pay into Social Security on behalf of their employees. Therefore, the children of such employees either wouldn’t qualify for benefits or would have benefits based on income from other employers that did contribute to Social Security.

To qualify for a deceased parent’s benefits, a child generally must be under 18. They may collect benefits up to age 19 if they are attending elementary or secondary school full time. 

The only situation in which a child may receive benefits after age 19 is if they have a disability. In this case, they can receive benefits indefinitely as long as the disability began before the child turned 22.

When do survivor benefits end?

The age at which survivor benefits end depends on the situation. Benefits are available until age 18 for most children. But benefits may be available until age 19 for full-time elementary and secondary students or indefinitely for those diagnosed with a disability before age 22.

There isn’t necessarily a limit on how long a surviving spouse can collect benefits. Widows and widowers who aren’t old enough to collect retirement benefits can collect survivor benefits until their child reaches age 16. 

Surviving spouses who reach the minimum age to collect retirement benefits can collect based on their deceased spouse’s work record for the rest of their lives.

How to receive benefits

To apply for Social Security survivor benefits for a child, a parent will need the child’s birth certificate or another document showing proof of birth or adoption. 

Additionally, the surviving parent must provide the Social Security numbers of both the deceased parent and the child. In some cases, additional documents may be required. 

When applying on behalf of a child with a disability, proof of the disability will also be required.

Once you’ve gathered the required documentation, you can apply by calling 1-800-772-1213. You cannot report a death or apply for survivor benefits online.

“One important thing to remember is that these benefits must only be used to support the financial needs of the child,” Freitag says. “The surviving parent receives the money and acts as a ‘representative payee.’ The representative payee is responsible for making sure that the child’s benefit is used exclusively to support their lifestyle needs.”

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)