My Father Recently Passed Away. What Happens to His Social Security Benefits?

If your family relies on your Social Security disability income, you may be wondering how you can provide for them when you are no longer living. Many parents work to provide for their children any way they can-including using disability income for groceries, school costs, and other daily living expenses.

What you may not know is that Social Security can provide much-needed income for your family even after your death. While you are working at a job that pays into Social Security, you are actually paying a portion of survivors insurance with every paycheck, which can be collected by your dependents.

How much could your family be entitled to? It depends, but generally when you receive survivor benefits in Florida:

• The amount in a person’s Social Security survivor insurance is often greater than the value of their private life insurance.
• If you are the widow or widower and you are older than 65, you should receive 100 percent of your late spouse’s benefit amount.
• Until he or she reaches full retirement age, a surviving spouse may receive 71 to 99 percent of their late spouse’s amount.
• If you are spouse caring for a child under the age of 16, you should receive 75 percent of the deceased’s earnings regardless of your own age.
• Any minor children or disabled children can collect 75 percent of a deceased parent’s benefits amount.
• If your parents are married and both working at the time of death, you may receive both parents’ Social Security survivor benefits.

We understand that you may not know where to turn after the death of a loved one. That’s why the advice of an experienced Palm Beach Social Security disability attorney can be invaluable in getting you the help that your parent worked for, and the compensation that you rightfully deserve.

If you need help in your Palm Beach Social Security case, call Fetterman & Associates today at (866) 865-1244 to get started on your free consultation.