Social Security Survivor Benefit Calculator

When a worker covered by Social Security dies, certain family members can collect monthly survivor payments based on what that worker earned during their lifetime. Surviving spouses and qualifying children are the most common recipients, and the figures matter most precisely when money is tight after a death. For 2026, the most a single family can draw together is limited to roughly 150% to 180% of the deceased worker's Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), while any one survivor's benefit cannot exceed 100% of that PIA.

Every survivor payment traces back to the deceased worker's PIA, the monthly amount they would have received at their own full retirement age. A widow or widower who has reached full retirement age collects the full 100% of that PIA. Children under 18, those up to 19 and still in high school, and disabled adult children each draw 75% of the PIA, though the total a household receives is held down by the family maximum, which typically lands somewhere between 150% and 180% of the worker's PIA depending on the earnings record.

Unlike your own retirement benefit, waiting past full retirement age to claim a survivor benefit buys you nothing extra, so there is no reward for delay here. If you claim before reaching full retirement age and you are still working, the earnings test can temporarily trim what you receive. One factor that catches many families off guard is the effect of certain government pensions, which may reduce the survivor benefit a person would otherwise expect.