Survivor planning, for advisors
What does the survivor keep when one spouse passes?
The larger of the two Social Security checks, never both. MySSAgent sizes that check against both spouses’ real earnings records, for each order, before any other conversation starts.
When one spouse passes, the household goes from two checks to one. How large the remaining check is was decided years earlier: when each spouse claimed, and whether the higher earner waited.
No Social Security number ever enters the platform.
Every monthly claiming age from 62 to 70, computed in code — not generated by a large language model (LLM).
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How does the household go from two checks to one?
The survivor keeps whichever check is larger: their own retirement benefit, or the survivor benefit on the record of the spouse who passed.
The larger check stays
A survivor receives the higher of their own retirement benefit or the survivor benefit, never both. The smaller one stops.
Credits earned before they pass carry over
At the survivor’s full retirement age, the survivor benefit is the full benefit of the spouse who passed, including the delayed retirement credits they earned up to that month.
Claimed early, it is reduced
A survivor can claim as early as 60, at 71.5% of the full amount. The reduction shrinks every month until the survivor’s full retirement age.
An early claim sets a limit
If the spouse who passed claimed before full retirement age, the survivor gets the larger of what that spouse was receiving or 82.5% of their full benefit.
That is why the higher earner’s claiming age counts twice. It sets their own check, and it sets the check the survivor may live on for years.
Why does the analysis show both orders?
Nobody knows which spouse will pass first, so MySSAgent never assumes it.
For every strategy, the survivor view shows what each spouse keeps if the other passes first, with a note on whose record that check comes from. When both orders land on the same figure, it says so once. On the sample household in the clip, Richard delays to 70 and Carol claims at 62. Whichever of them passes first, the survivor keeps $4,992 a month.
Most for the household, or most for the survivor?
Sometimes they are two different strategies. The analysis shows both, side by side, instead of blending them into one score.
One strategy collects the most while both spouses are alive. Another leaves whoever is left with the largest monthly check. When they differ, the page puts the trade in plain numbers: about how much lifetime income the second gives up, and how much it adds to the check the survivor lives on. When they agree, it says there is no trade-off to weigh. The recommended strategy is the household-income answer, and the survivor answer sits beside it for the conversation.
What if the client is already widowed?
MySSAgent works from the record of the spouse who passed, and asks for any fact it is missing instead of guessing.
It applies the credits that spouse earned, the limit that applies if they claimed early, and the cost-of-living adjustments since. The client page then shows the survivor benefit as early as 60, what waiting until the survivor’s full retirement age is worth, and which of the two checks stops.
What the survivor view does not do
- It does not predict how long either spouse will live.
- It has no opinion about products. Product selection stays with you.
- It is not an SSA determination. SSA confirms eligibility and the final amount.
Questions advisors ask about survivor benefits
Does a survivor get both Social Security checks?
No. A survivor receives the higher of their own retirement benefit or the survivor benefit, never both. The smaller check stops.
How early can a survivor claim, and at what amount?
As early as 60, at 71.5% of the full survivor benefit. The amount rises each month the survivor waits, to 100% at the survivor’s full retirement age.
Does it matter when the higher earner claimed?
Yes, in both directions. Delayed retirement credits earned before they pass carry to the survivor. If they claimed before full retirement age, the survivor benefit is limited to the larger of what they were receiving or 82.5% of their full benefit.
Which spouse does MySSAgent assume passes first?
Neither. For every strategy, the survivor view shows what each spouse keeps if the other passes first. When the two orders land on the same figure, it says so once.
Does the survivor view recommend an annuity or life insurance?
No. It sizes the monthly check the survivor would live on. What, if anything, fills a gap is your conversation with the client.