Can I collect Social Security survivor benefits if I delay my retirement benefits until 70?
I'm trying to figure out my best strategy with Social Security and need some guidance with my complicated situation. I'm 66 and fully retired now, but haven't started claiming any SS benefits yet. My Full Retirement Age is next April (2026). I was planning to wait until 70 to maximize my retirement benefit amount. The complication is my wife's health situation. She's currently receiving SSDI (disability) which will automatically convert to regular Social Security retirement benefits in February 2026. Unfortunately, she's currently in hospice care, and I'm trying to prepare for all scenarios. If I stick with my plan to delay my own retirement benefits until 70, would I be eligible to receive survivor benefits if my wife passes away before then? Or would claiming survivor benefits somehow prevent me from getting my enhanced retirement benefit at 70? I've tried reading about this on the SSA website but got confused with all the different rules.
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Lena Kowalski
Yes, you absolutely can collect survivor benefits while delaying your own retirement benefits until 70. This is actually a smart strategy in your situation. You can claim the survivor benefit when your wife passes away, and then switch to your own retirement benefit at age 70 when it reaches its maximum amount. The survivor benefit won't affect your own retirement benefit's delayed retirement credits.
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Toot-n-Mighty
•Thank you so much for confirming this. Do you know if I'd get the full survivor benefit based on her record, or would it be reduced because I'm not at FRA yet?
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DeShawn Washington
i did smthing similar after my husband died. took survivors at 66 then switched to my own at 70. worked out great for me but sorry about your situation with your wife.
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Toot-n-Mighty
•Thanks for sharing your experience. It helps to hear from someone who's done this successfully. Did you have to do anything special when you switched from survivor to your own benefit at 70?
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Mei-Ling Chen
This is one of the few remaining "claim now, claim more later" strategies still available after the 2015 law changes. Since you're at FRA already, you can receive 100% of your wife's benefit as a survivor benefit without any reduction, while letting your own retirement benefit continue to grow by 8% per year until age 70. When you apply for the survivor benefit, make absolutely sure that SSA understands you are ONLY applying for the survivor benefit and NOT your retirement benefit. Be very explicit about this or they might accidentally file for both, which would prevent your retirement benefit from growing to its maximum at 70. Also, I'm very sorry about your wife's health situation. Make sure to keep all her Social Security information (number, benefit amount) accessible for when you need to apply for survivor benefits.
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Toot-n-Mighty
•This is incredibly helpful, especially the warning about being explicit that I only want the survivor benefit. I would have assumed they'd understand that automatically. Is there specific language I should use when applying to make sure they don't process both claims?
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Mei-Ling Chen
•Yes, when you apply, specifically state: "I am applying ONLY for survivor benefits. I want to EXCLUDE any application for my own retirement benefits at this time, as I plan to claim those at age 70." Ask them to note this in your file. Also request written confirmation that only your survivor claim was processed. I recommend applying by phone rather than online for this situation, as the online system doesn't handle these restricted applications well.
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Sofía Rodríguez
The same thing happened to me last year - I was waiting till 70 to claim when my wife passed. When I went to the SSA office to apply for survivor benefits, they tried to file both my survivor AND retirement benefit! I had to stop them and insist I only wanted the survivor benefit. The agent seemed confused and had to talk to a supervisor. I wish I'd known about Claimyr back then - my brother just used their service (claimyr.com) to get through to Social Security without the endless hold times. He showed me the video of how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. Might be worth checking out when you need to make this call, especially for something complicated like this where you need to make sure they process it correctly.
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Toot-n-Mighty
•I appreciate the heads up about your experience. It's concerning that they almost filed both benefits incorrectly. I'll definitely check out that service when the time comes - anything to avoid those massive hold times.
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Aiden O'Connor
CAREFUL!!! The rules changed in 2015 with that budget bill!! You might not be able to do this strategy anymore!!
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Mei-Ling Chen
•The 2015 Bipartisan Budget Act did eliminate many claiming strategies, but survivor benefits were NOT affected by those changes. The restricted application elimination only applied to spousal benefits while delaying retirement, not to survivor benefits. The OP can still use this strategy legitimately.
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Zoe Papadopoulos
I'm so sorry about your wife's health. My aunt went through something similar last year. The SSA actually made her pay back some benefits they said she shouldn't have received when her husband died - even though THEY told her to apply for them! The whole system is just designed to confuse people. Hope things work out better for you.
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Toot-n-Mighty
•That's terrible about your aunt. I'll be extra careful to get everything documented. Thank you for your kind words about my wife.
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Jamal Brown
When my dad died, my mom tried this but the SS office told her she HAD to take her own retirement instead of just the survivors?? They said the law says you have to take the highest benefit you qualify for. Is that wrong?
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Mei-Ling Chen
•Yes, that information was incorrect. The law does NOT require you to take the highest benefit you qualify for. When you reach FRA, you have the option to restrict your application to only survivor benefits while letting your retirement benefit grow, or vice versa. The SSA representative who told your mother that was unfortunately mistaken, which happens more often than it should.
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DeShawn Washington
wait i'm confused. his wife is on disability not SS retirement? does that make a difference? aren't survivor benefits different for disability?
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Lena Kowalski
•The OP mentioned his wife's disability will convert to regular Social Security retirement in February 2026. When calculating survivor benefits, the SSA will use either the disability benefit amount or her full retirement amount (whichever is higher). The process for claiming survivor benefits remains the same regardless of whether the deceased spouse was receiving disability or retirement benefits.
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Toot-n-Mighty
I want to thank everyone for the helpful advice. This has clarified a lot for me. I'll definitely be careful to specifically request ONLY survivor benefits when the time comes, and make sure they don't accidentally file for my retirement benefits too. I'll probably try to get an appointment at the local office rather than doing it online, based on everyone's suggestions. This has been really helpful during a difficult time.
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Lena Kowalski
•You're welcome. Just remember - get everything in writing. If someone at SSA gives you advice, ask for their name and ID number, and request written confirmation of what they tell you. It could save you headaches later.
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