Could you please confirm the following: If an individual is between age 60 and FRA and they are receiving Child in Care Benefits and their spouse passes away, it appears that the individual can stay on CIC benefits until their full retirement age and at that time the benefits would automatically convert to Widow's Benefits at their FRA meaning they would receive a Widow's Benefit equal to whatever the deceased spouse was receiving at the time of their death including any Delayed Retirement Credits?

RS 00208.085 Mother's/Father's To Widow(er)'s Benefits at Full Retirement Age (FRA)

A. Policy

We must convert mother/father or surviving divorced mother/father benefits to widow(er)’s benefits, even if disadvantageous to the family, when the beneficiary attains full retirement age (FRA) and meets the conditions for entitlement to WIB or surviving divorced spouse’s benefits (RS 00207.001). When a mother/father attains FRA, Title II Redesign (T2RD) will automatically convert her/him to widow(er)'s benefits if:

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the number holder (NH) is fully insured (RS 00301.105), and

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age for the mother/father is proven on the Master Beneficiary Record (MBR) (proof code B, C, F or Q).

Hi. Yes, I can confirm that child in care (CIC) survivor benefits aren't automatically converted to widow(er) benefits until the beneficiary reaches full retirement age (FRA). They then receive their unreduced widow(er) rate, which would include any delayed retirement credits (DRC) earned by the deceased worker.

That said, it isn't always advantageous to wait until FRA to switch from child in care benefits to widow(er) benefits. For example, if the deceased worker started drawing their Social Security retirement benefits prior to FRA, then a RIB-LIM computation would apply and the maximum widow(er) rate that could be paid on their record would be reached at some point prior to when the widow(er) reaches their FRA (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0200204045).

Our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) is designed to fully analyze a person's filing options so that they can determine the best filing strategy for maximizing their benefits.

Best, Jerry