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Surviving Spouses Have Options For When to Claim Their Survivor Benefits - Morningstar.com
A surviving spouse becomes eligible to claim their Survivor benefits at age 60 (50 if disabled), when they would receive only 71.5% of their deceased spouse’s benefit. An ex-spouse may also be eligible for a survivor benefit if they meet certain requirements. An ex-spouse must have been married for at least 10 years and must be currently single, or not have remarried until after their 60th birthday.
If you are a surviving spouse (qualifying ex-spouse) and you are also eligible for your own retirement benefit, you have options for when to claim your survivor benefit. If your spouse should pass away and you are 62 or older, you can choose between starting your survivor benefit or your own retirement benefit first. A survivor benefit maxes out at your FRA (could be earlier if your deceased spouse started their benefits early), whereas your own retirement benefit doesn’t max out until age 70.
To ensure you get to start the benefit of your choice first, you need to restrict your application to start one first and allow the other to continue to grow. It will benefit you first to find out which benefit will be the largest of the two available to you to help you in making your decision.
Quentin Fottrell has written an article about an ex-spouse wanting information about which benefit to claim first. Read the full article by clicking here….
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