What are the surviving spouses rights as to the deceased benefits. Are they eligible to draw that benefit also?

patthompson39

It depends on the benefits. Social Security, you can draw from the highest benefit, once you are eligible to draw Social Security. Other benefits, like a pension plan? You have to check the plan. Some plans only pay out to the person in whose name the pension was set up, with no surviving spouse benefit. So once the person dies, the plan dies too, and the funds go back to the company. So that is where I would start, with the pension plan itself. Go to the Human Resource person of that company and ask. Or if you have a copy of that plan, look through it very carefully.

Best of luck to you in finding out. Wish I could be more help to you on this but without knowing the exact benefit, I cannot tell you for 100%.

I currently am dealing with this with my mother. My father just passed and we are trying to get this straightened out before I leave.



Now, are you talking SSI? State benefits?

With SSI, if both people are collectig SSI then the lesser of the two benefits is dropped and the surviving spouse collects the greater of the two. However, they only collect approximately 2/3's of the highest benefit. That is where we are right now.

Now, each locality has it's own deth benefits. In my mother's case we had to go to the Department of Human Services to file for the local death benefits.