Hello Sir , if I passed shortly after taking ss benefits at 62 im 60 now ! And my wife took survivor benefits at 62.8months at the rib lib does she receive 82.5 % of my fra or does that amount get reduced also by her taking it earlier than her normal fra of 67 She is leaving her own benefits alone until 70

Hi. Your wife definitely wouldn't need to wait until her full retirement age (FRA) to qualify for 82.5% of your primary insurance amount (PIA) as a widow. A person's PIA is equal to their Social Security retirement benefit rate if they start drawing their benefits at full retirement age (FRA). The exact age at which your wife would qualify for the 82.5% rate would depend on her year of birth, but it wouldn't be any later than 62 & 9 months. So, the short answer to your question is that if your wife is at least 62 & 9 months when she claims widow's benefits, her widow's rate would be at least 82.5% of your PIA even if you start drawing your Social Security retirement benefits at age 62.

When a deceased worker started taking their benefits prior to FRA, the benefit rate for a widow(er) claiming benefits on their record is determined by comparing three different amounts. Those amounts are:
1) The deceased worker's reduced benefit rate;
2) 82.5% of the deceased worker's PIA; and,
3) The deceased worker's PIA reduced by the number of months that the widow(er) claims survivor benefits prior to their FRA.

Those 3 amounts are then sequenced from low to high, and the applicable widow's rate is determined based on the chart in the following section of Social Security's operations manual: https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0300615322.

For example, let's say Bob's PIA is $1000. Bob started drawing his Social Security benefits at age 62 at a reduced rate of $750, or $75% of his PIA. Bob then dies at age 63 after drawing benefits for a year. Bob's widow, Sally, has just turned age 62 at the time of his death. If Sally claims widow's benefits effective with the month she reaches age 62, she'd be eligible for a reduced widow's rate of $796. So, the 3 pertinent amounts in this example are 1) Bob's reduced rate of $750, 2) Sally's reduced widow's rate of $796, and 3) 82.5% of Bob's PIA, or $825.

Based on the chart linked above, the amount payable to Sally in our example would be $796, based on sequence 5 in the chart. However, if Sally claims widow's benefits at age 62 & 9 months instead of age 62, then her reduced rate based on age would be $826. And, since that's more than 82.5% of Bob's PIA, Sally's widow's rate would be limited to 82.5% of Bob's PIA, or $825 (i.e. sequence 6 on the chart).

Best, Jerry