En español | Social Security is not just a guaranteed income for retired workers; it's also a form of insurance for families when those workers die. Today, Social Security pays monthly survivor benefits to nearly 3.9 million widows and widowers (including divorced former spouses) and about 2 million children of deceased wage earners.
In the AARP Social Security Resource Center, you’ll find practical information about how Social Security works when a worker dies, including:
- Steps to take to report a death and begin collecting survivor benefits
- How Social Security determines eligibility and calculates payments
- How age and marital status affect what you collect
