Spousal and Survivor Benefits: Maximizing What's Yours
Even non-working spouses get up to 50% of the working spouse's benefit. Widowed? You may step up to your spouse's full benefit.
Spousal benefit
A spouse can claim up to 50% of the higher earner's FRA benefit at their own FRA. Reduced if claimed earlier.
Example: Higher earner has $2,500 FRA benefit. Spouse gets up to $1,250 at their FRA.
Survivor benefit
When a spouse dies, the survivor keeps the higher of the two benefits — not both. If the higher earner delayed to 70, the survivor inherits that larger amount.
The deemed-filing rule
If you file for one benefit after your FRA, you're deemed to file for both (your own and spousal) — you'll get the larger. No more "claim spousal first, switch later" strategy except in narrow cases.
Divorced spouse benefits
If your marriage lasted 10+ years and you're unmarried, you can claim on your ex's record without affecting their benefit or current spouse's.
Bottom line
Run your benefit options through the SSA calculator or a fee-only retirement planner. Spousal and survivor optimization can add $50,000–$200,000 in lifetime household benefits — purely from filing timing.