Explore the Family Members Benefit from your Social Security Benefits
Walter House said do you know when you take a federal retirement or any disability benefit under your Social Security, some members in your family can also qualify for the same? If no, you are here at the right place to get the right information.
As per Walter House federal government workers retiring or taking disability benefits under Social Security can also benefit some of the family members. Those family members are:
· your spouse (wife or husband) of age 62 years or older;
· your spouse (wife or husband) under age 62 is eligible for benefits if she or he is looking after your child who is under 16 or is disabled;
· your former spouse (wife or husband) of age 62 or older;
· all children up to age 18;
· children who are 18-19 and are full-time students through grade 12; and
· children above 18, in case of any disability.
A spouse (wife or husband) gets half of the full benefits of the retired worker unless he or she starts taking full benefits before the full age of the retirement age (for now, the retirement age is 66). In that scenario, Walter House said the benefit to the spouse is reduced by some percentage that is calculated based on the number of months before the retired worker reached the appropriate age.
If your children are eligible for Social Security, then each one of your children will get one-third of your full social security benefit. But the government has put a limit on the amount of money that a family gets paid. If the total Social Security benefits to your partner and your children exceed this set limit, all of their benefits will be reduced, respectively. But the retired worker’s benefit will remain untouched.
A divorced partner can also get Social Security benefits from a former husband’s or wife’s Social Security record. According to the rules, if their marriage lasted at least ten years and the divorced spouse is 62 or older and unmarried, then only he or she is eligible for benefits. If the partner is divorced at least two years, then he or she also gets benefits, irrespective of the retirement of the worker.
The only concern here is that the worker must have enough credits to become eligible for these benefits and should be of age 62 or older. The number of benefits a divorced spouse gets is not at all connected to the number of benefits a current spouse gets.
The Social Security Department will be bound to give survivor benefits to your surviving spouse and children who are dependent. Walter House said your spouse is eligible for these benefits if he or she is 60 or between the ages of 50 and 59, is disabled (any age), and looking after a child under age 16 or a disabled child.
