Social Security Survivor Benefits

When a person starts working, some amount of the salary he receives gets collected in the person's social security account. Social security is important to secure the future of the person i.e. when he retires, loses his job or even when he becomes disabled. However the financial security does not stop when the person dies. The benefits of the social security gets passed on to the surviving family members. However, there are some criteria that have to be maintained to enjoy the social security survivor benefits.

Criteria to Receive Social Security Survivor Benefits
There are three very important conditions that have to be fulfilled for the survivors of the deceased person to enjoy social security benefits. The first condition is that the person has to work for a minimum of 10 years. The next criteria is that the person must have paid the social security taxes regularly and the third, and most important thing, is that the person should have earned some amount of work credits while he was working. The amount of working credits one should have to get social security benefits depend on the age at when a person dies. The younger the age of the person, the less credits are needed. The maximum number of credits one needs to be completely insured is not more than 40, however, there are also certain exceptions in this case. If a person has been insured not long before his death, his family members are entitled to receive the social security survivor benefits.

Who can qualify for Social Security Survivor Benefits?
Just like there is a criteria for a person to get social security benefits, there are also some rules about the people who are entitled to social security survivor benefits. They are -

• For a deceased person's spouse to receive survival benefits, he or she should be at least 60 or more than 60 years of age. If the spouse is more than 50 years old and is suffering from some disability, he or she can also apply for social security benefits.
• If your spouse has not reached the age of 60 and has a child or children under the age of 16 or disabled, he or she is also eligible to receive the benefits.
• Even if a person is divorced at the time of death, the ex-spouse above the age of 60 can claim the social security benefits, but they must have been married for at least 10 years. Even if the divorced spouse has their child under his or her care, he or she would receive the benefits.
• Unmarried children of the deceased, under the age of 18 can get the benefits of social security.
• If the deceased person is survived by parents above the age of 62, they are also entitled receive the benefits.

Money Received by Social Security Survivors
The survivors of the deceased person will receive money from the social security on a monthly basis. More the earnings, more would be the benefits. The amount of money that they would receive depends on earnings of the deceased person and also on his relationship with the survivor. If the spouse has reached retirement age, he or she would receive 100% of the basic social security benefit. However, if the spouse is less than 60 years of age, he or she may only get 75% - 94% of the basic benefit.

How to Apply for Social Security Survivor Benefits?
To receive the benefits of the social security after the death of a loved one, one has to get in touch with the social security administration. While applying for social security benefits, one would have to give the following details -

• Death certificate
• Social security number of the deceased person and the applicant
• Marriage certificate
• Birth certificate of the applicant
• Divorce papers, if relevant
• Social security number of dependent children
• W-2 form of the deceased person

Social security is an important way of securing the future of the people one loves. Social security survivor benefits would ensure that the survivors of the deceased do not face financial problems in the time to come.