If a parent dies, the surviving spouse may be eligible for benefits if he or she is caring for a the deceased’s child and the child is under 16 years old or disabled. These are called Mother’s and Father’s benefits. See 20 CFR Section 404.339 for more information.
Mother’s and Father’s benefits are separate from the survivor’s benefits the child may be entitled to due to the death of a parent. This is a little known subset of Social Security benefits.
There are a number of ways these benefits may stop:
- You remarry. The exception to this is if you remarry someone entitled to old-age, disability, wife’s, husband’s, widow’s, widower’s, father’s, mother’s, parent’s or disabled child’s benefits. See. 20 CFR 404.341.
- The child turns 16 (if the child is not disabled).
- The child is 16 or older and Social Security decides that the child is no longer disabled (you do not actively supervise his or her activities and you do not make important decisions about is or her needs; or, it is not necessary for you to perform personal services for him or her such as dressing, feeding, and managing money that the child cannor do alone because of a disability). See 20 CFR 404.348.
- The child is no longer in your care. See 20 CFR 404.349.
For more information see 20 CFR 404.339.
I thought children could get benefits until age 18 or 19?
Yes, that is true. Children’s benefits due to a death of a parent continue until age 18 or 19 (depending on whether the child is in school). However, mother’s or father’s benefits may end when the child turns 16. See 20 CFR 404.350
This also means that while the mother’s or father’s benefits may have ended, the child may still be eligible for children’s benefits for a few more years.
Updated 04/30/09.
Hi,
I am an attorney in California, and am having trouble finding an answer to this question: if both a child's parents die (let's say, simultaneously in a car crash), is the child entitled to receive survivor benefits from each parent (assuming each parent has enough credits and otherwise qualifies)?
We are doing an estate planning for our daughter. We have saving and life insurance, but I am curious to know if she would qualify for both my and my husband's benefits.
Thank you.
Hi,
I am an attorney in California, and am having trouble finding an answer to this question: if both a child's parents die (let's say, simultaneously in a car crash), is the child entitled to receive survivor benefits from each parent (assuming each parent has enough credits and otherwise qualifies)?
We are doing an estate planning for our daughter. We have saving and life insurance, but I am curious to know if she would qualify for both my and my husband's benefits.
Thank you.
They will most likely receive benefits on the parent with the higher amount but not on both.
I just want to say that I don't think it is fair that a child can only receive benefits from only one parent. Some of these congressional laws make me violently ill. I have an adult disabled
child whose dad is deceased and I am currently receiving ssb from my work record.My child
is receiving benefits from her dad's work record which is more than mine. I think she should be
entitled to both. We both worked and paid into the system and it took both of us to conceive
her. Their laws really suck sometimes.
A prospective employer is asking me to complete an online survey in order to get a face-to-face interview.Scam?