This article will tackle about Social Security Death Benefits, in matters of its purpose, coverage and entitlement, including the value of Attorney representation in claims of this sort.

A good way to start would be to discuss significant points regarding Social Security Death Benefits.

Social Security Death Benefits

Everyone who works in the United States is mandated or required by law to pay into Social Security. Upon occurrence of circumstances such as disability or upon retirement, these benefits are paid out to the person who contributed into Social Security. This is normally how the system works.

Specifically, when a member dies, the benefits that he/she are entitled for or was receiving does not expire with his/her death. Instead, they are passed on or transferred to certain eligible members of his/her family. The benefits that the surviving family will get are capped as survivor’s benefits.

Under the Social Security guidelines, if a person worked, paid Social Security taxes and have earned good amount of work credits, any eligible members of the person’s surviving family can be entitled for survivors benefit upon his death.

The number of years a benefactor needs to work for their family to be eligible for Social Security survivor benefits depends on his/her age when he or she dies. The younger a person is, the fewer years he or she needs to work. However, no one needs more than 10 years of work to be fully insured or eligible for any Social Security benefit.

Eligible Survivors

The rules are more complex in this matter. However, as a general overview these people can receive Social Security death benefits, given any of the following conditions:

• Your spouse (full benefits upon retirement, reduced benefits at age 60, and full benefits for disabled individuals 50 and older)

• Your spouse at any age, who is taking care of your child who is under age 16 or disabled

• Your ex-spouse age 60 or over (50 or older if disabled) who was married to you for at least 10 years

• Your ex-spouse at any age, who is taking care of your child who is under age 16 or disabled

• Dependent parents who are 62 or older

• Disabled children of any age

• Unmarried children under 18, up to the age of 19 who are still in high school full time

• Stepchildren, grandchildren, and adopted children (circumstances vary with these survivors)

Benefit Amount

The amount of Social Security death benefits that a survivor can receive depends on several different factors.

However, the benefits that an eligible family will receive monthly from survivor benefits depend on the decedent-member’s average lifetime earnings. That means, the higher the earnings, the higher the benefits. In turn, the monthly benefit is equal to a percentage of the decedent-member’s basic Social Security benefits. The percentage depends on the survivor's age and relationship to the decedent-member.

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