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View Full Version : Social security survivors benefits versus own


WMorg555
Oct 13, 2011, 09:23 PM
If a person is already collecting social security retirement benefits from their own contributions and their husband dies, do they get an increase as a wife's survivor benefits if the husband had been paying into social security from his job? They each had their own jobs and each fully paid into social security.

ebaines
Oct 17, 2011, 05:12 AM
Generally no - you don't receive both survivor's benefits and your own retirement benefits at the same time. However, you may be able to start collecting full survivors benefits at an earlier age than you can receive full benefits based on your own contributions, and then switch later on to your own benefits. This can have the advantage of allowing you to start collecting earlier without diminishing your payouts later on. I suggest that you contact the SSA to have them provide you with the details for your specific situation.