Can my 13-year-old receive Social Security benefits when I claim retirement benefits at 62?

Yes, your child CAN receive benefits when you start collecting retirement! These are called "child's benefits" and they're available to unmarried children under 18 (or up to 19 if still in high school). Each eligible child can receive up to 50% of your full retirement benefit amount, even if you take early retirement at 62. However, there's a Family Maximum Benefit that caps the total your family can receive based on your record, usually between 150-180% of your full benefit. This is different from survivor benefits, which is why you only saw it mentioned in that section. You should definitely factor this into your planning, but be aware that taking early retirement at 62 will permanently reduce both your benefit AND any benefits your daughter receives.

I went through this exact situation last year. When I filed for retirement, I brought my son's birth certificate and was able to apply for his benefits at the same time. The SSA representative told me it's called "auxiliary benefits" in their system. My son gets about $875/month now and will until he graduates high school. One thing to watch for - there's something called the "family maximum" that limits the total benefits paid on your record. If you have multiple children or an ex-spouse also collecting on your record, it might reduce what each person gets.

Adding to what others have shared, those child benefits can be REALLY complicated with the family maximum calculation. When I filed at 62, my 14-year-old twins each qualified for benefits, but they didn't get the full 50% each because of the family maximum. Also, if your daughter has any income from a job, there are earnings limits that could reduce her benefits. And YES, these benefits absolutely count for financial aid calculations on the FAFSA, which really messed up our expected family contribution when my oldest applied for college. I've been fighting with SSA for months about an overpayment notice because they said my son earned too much at his summer job. Their phone lines are IMPOSSIBLE!

does anyone know if the child has to live with the retired parent to get benefits?? my grandson lives with me (his grandmother) but my son-in-law is turning 62 and filing for SS next month. can my grandson still get benefits based on his dads record even tho he doesn't live with him?? they don't have a formal custody agreement if that matters

Be careful about counting on this money!! My sister's kids got their benefits reduced because of the family maximum when both she AND her ex-husband filed for retirement benefits in the same year. Something about dual entitlement and benefits being offset. Social Security explained it to her 3 different times and she still doesn't understand how they calculated it.

when i started getting ssdi my son got benefits and it was automatically added when i filed. but retirement mite be different?? u should apply for both at same time to make sure u dont miss paymens

Something important that hasn't been mentioned yet: If your daughter receives these benefits, they will need to be reported on college financial aid applications (FAFSA). These count as unearned income for the child and can significantly impact financial aid eligibility. Since you mentioned college funds, this is something to consider in your planning. Also, there are specific rules if your child works while receiving benefits. In 2025, beneficiaries under 18 can earn up to $22,300 without any reduction in benefits (this is the current annual earnings limit which gets adjusted yearly).

This is really helpful information everyone! I had no idea about the FAFSA impact - that's a huge consideration since we're hoping she'll qualify for need-based aid. It sounds like I need to run the numbers on whether the 5 years of child benefits would be worth the potential reduction in college financial aid. Does anyone know if there's a way to estimate what the family maximum would be in my situation? I only have one child and no ex-spouse collecting benefits, so I'm hoping we'd get closer to the full 50%. Also, when you all applied for the child benefits, did you need to bring any specific documentation beyond the birth certificate? I think I'm going to try that Claimyr service someone mentioned - after two failed attempts at calling SSA, I really need to speak with someone who can walk me through all these calculations before I make any decisions.

As a newcomer to this community, I wanted to share some additional resources that might help with your decision-making process. I recently went through a similar situation and found that the SSA's online Retirement Estimator tool (ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/estimator.html) can give you preliminary estimates for both your retirement benefits and potential auxiliary benefits for dependents. One thing I learned that hasn't been mentioned yet is that you can actually apply for retirement benefits up to 4 months before you want them to start. This gives you more time to gather documentation and plan the timing, especially if you're trying to coordinate with college financial aid considerations. Also, regarding the FAFSA impact that several people mentioned - I discovered that some states have different rules for how Social Security benefits are treated in their state financial aid programs. It might be worth checking with your state's higher education agency to understand the full picture of how these benefits could affect aid eligibility beyond just federal aid. The local SSA offices can provide a personalized benefit statement that shows projections for different claiming ages, including estimates for dependent benefits. When I made my appointment, I specifically asked for a "benefit projection worksheet" and they were able to print out scenarios showing benefits at 62, full retirement age, and age 70, along with the corresponding child benefit amounts. Hope this helps with your planning! This community has been such a great resource for navigating these complex decisions.