Social Security Survivor Benefits Part 1 Who is eligible What do I do first

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Fighting Words Financial

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welcome back to the channel guys this is Jason certified financial planner and host of fighting words financial today we're going to talk about Social Security survivor benefits who is eligible and what do i do first now guys this is a complex topic and today I'm gonna cover the basics and sort of the first steps in claiming your survivorship benefits in later videos on the cover the benefits and specific situations and some strategies that might be available to you if you have a loved one who's passed away it's important to know how your spouse earn Social Security survivor benefits for you and each Social Security covered worker earns credits that qualifies his or her spouse for the survivors benefit a worker can earn a maximum of four credits per year in 2020 for example your spouse can earn one credit for each one thousand four hundred and ten dollars of we dues or self-employment income when your spouse has earned five thousand six hundred and forty dollars they've earned their four credits for the year it's important to note that no one needs more than 40 credits or ten years worth of work in order to be eligible for any Social Security benefit but the younger a person is when they pass the fewer credits they must have for family members to receive survivors benefits before I get into the subject of who is eligible it's important to note that survivor benefits will be paid to the workers children or to the surviving spouse caring for the workers children even if that worker does not have enough credits to qualify they can get benefits as long as the worker has one and a half years of work or six credits in the three years immediately preceding their death each person's situation is different and you definitely need to talk to a Social Security claims representative about your choices I'll post the phone number in the comments below as well as in this video now let's talk about who was eligible to receive benefits certain family members may be eligible to receive a monthly Social Security survivors benefit those include a widow or widower who was age 60 or older that person age 50 or older if they're disabled may also be eligible to receive a Social Security survivors benefit he's surviving divorced spouse under certain circumstances is eligible to receive that survivors benefit a widow or widower at any age who is caring for the deceased child who was under the age of 16 or disabled and receiving benefits on their record an unmarried child of the deceased worker who is younger than age 18 or up the 19 that they're a full-time student in a secondary school or age 18 or older with a disability that began before age 22 our other family members eligible to receive survivor benefits well the answer to that question is yes under certain circumstances the following family members may be eligible a stepchild grandchild step grandchild or an adopted child also parents age 62 or older who are dependent only deceased for half of their financial support so if the worker claimed you as a dependent and you were their parent then you might be eligible for that Social Security survivors benefit all right folks let's talk about the first step the first step in claiming your Social Security survivors benefit is reporting your spouse's death to the Social Security Administration the Social Security Administration should be notified as soon as possible when a person dies however you can't report a death or apply for survivors benefits online now in most cases the funeral home where your loved one's body is prepared is going to report the death to the Social Security Administration you should give the funeral home the deceased person's social security number if you want them to make that report now reporting that death is not the same thing as applying for Social Security survivors benefits and you're going to need to call and speak to a social security representative at some point or make an appointment to visit your local office once again here's that number to call do yourself a favor and keep this in mind because if you forget it's gonna cost you some unnecessary stress and later on if the deceased loved one was receiving Social Security benefits you must return the benefit receive for the month of death and any later months for example the person died in July you must return the benefits paid in August how do you return the benefits depends on how the deceased was receiving those benefits for funds received by direct deposit contact the bank or other financial institution where they are being deposited and request that any funds received for the month of death or later be returned to the Social Security Administration benefits received by check need to be returned to the Social Security Administration as soon as possible don't cash any checks received for the month in which the person died or later immediately after you report the death there's going to be a check cut to you the surviving spouse a one-time lump-sum payment of $225 can be paid to the surviving spouse if he or she was living with the deceased or if they were living apart and the surviving spouse was receiving benefits on the deceased record if there is no surviving spouse that lump sum two hundred and fifty five dollar payment is going to be made to a child who was eligible for benefits on the deceased record in the month of death folks stay tuned for part two on this subject when we get into benefits that are specific to widows and widowers and to divorced spouses thank you very much guys have a nice day you