Hello.
My husband passed in December of this past year. Our four children are receiving survivor benefits. My oldest graduates in May, and I received a letter as did he that his checks will go to him directly vs. my bank account for the next two months and then will stop upon graduation.
One letter said I needed to send funds back to SS. I’m very confused about that.
Also, when this payment stops, will the amount received by my other three children go up? And do I need to do anything to make sure this happens correctly and in a timely manner ?
I do not receive any widow caring for children benefits and don’t plan to so that when I retire I can maximize the amount I will receive.
I promised I googled a ton before I asked here. Also, I plan to call the SS office, but those calls always seem so confusing.
Thank you for your time!
Hi. I'm sorry for your loss. Regarding any responsibility for returning your son's funds to Social Security, that would only be necessary if you have saved (i.e. conserved) at least some of his benefits for future needs. In that case, Social Security would want you to return those funds to them when he turns age 18 so that they can be reissued to your son. Depending on how the funds are being held, though, there may be other options for transferring the money to him. Social Security makes those types of decisions on a case by case basis, so if you have any conserved benefits belonging to your son then you'll probably want to discuss your options with Social Security.
If there are 4 children drawing benefits on your husband's account then the total amount they're receiving would be equal the the family maximum benefit (FMB) that can be paid on your husband's record. That would be true even if there were only 3 children drawing, so when your oldest child stops drawing benefits his amount should be redistributed to the other 3 children. That adjustment will happen automatically.
Surviving children can individually be paid up to 75% of the deceased worker's primary insurance amount (PIA), but their actual rate is subject to reduction due to the FMB. The FMB would never be high enough for 3 or more children to each be paid a full 75% of their parent's PIA, so it sounds like your children have basically been splitting the FMB 4 ways. When your son gets too old for benefits the other 3 children will split the FMB 3 ways.
If you have a child under age 16 or disabled in your care, you could file for child in care survivor benefits now. Social Security refers to that type of benefit as a mother's, benefit. However, as long as at least 3 children are drawing benefits, if you started drawing benefits then the FMB would just be split 4 ways instead of 3. In other words, the total amount payable to your family wouldn't increase. However, when it gets down to 2 eligible children drawing then it's possible that less than the FMB would then be payable. In that case, if you still qualify for mother's benefits you should probably look into applying for them. Drawing mother's benefits would have no adverse effect on your future benefit rate as a widow.
Best, Jerry
