Social Security Survivors Benefits: If I die, I understand my wife can receive 100% of my benefits. The question is: Does she continue to receive her own Social Security benefits?
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oteymus (
4)
September 2nd, 2015
Social Security Survivors Benefits: If I die, I understand my wife can receive 100% of my benefits. The question is: Does she continue to receive her own Social Security benefits?
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6 Answers
I’m pretty sure she would claim whichever benefit is the highest. Not sure if you can collect double benefits. If you both remained alive then she would collect her own and you would collect your own. I would call your local SS office to ask.
I think that if she is under full retirement age she would collect a widows benefit but when it comes to collecting the standard SS benefits I believe she would choose whichever is the highest amount.
This is only IF you have been married over 10 years, otherwise she would only be eligible to collect on her own benefit.
I doubt very much if this is the case. The nation’s statistics on such things as poisonings and “suspicious” deaths would spike through the roof.
No double-dipping. @Coloma nailed it.
Try this website
https://www.maximizemysocialsecurity.com
Prof Kotikoff has written a very popular book on the subject, particularly useful if you are over 60 and will be eligible to elect to collect benefits in the next few years.
He goes into things you would never think about.
Good luck
SRM
When my dad died…his yearly SS benefits were higher than my mom’s and upon his death, the SS benefits transferred my dad’s higher benefits to my mom and her benefits were subsequently canceled and vanquished to the great Social Security pot in the sky.
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