Social Security Survivor Benefits Increase for Disabled Widows and Caregivers.
This Act increases financial support for disabled surviving spouses and those caring for older children by removing age restrictions for full survivor benefits for disabled individuals. It also raises the age limit for a child to qualify a surviving parent for benefits from 16 to 18. Crucially, benefit increases under this law will not negatively affect eligibility for other federal assistance programs for current recipients.
Key points
Disabled surviving spouses can now receive full Social Security benefits regardless of their age, eliminating the previous 50-60 age window.
The age limit for a child to qualify a surviving parent for "child-in-care" benefits increases from 16 to 18 (or 19 if the child is a full-time student).
New rules allow surviving spouses to increase their benefit amount by delaying the claim past early retirement age.
Benefit increases resulting from this law will not jeopardize continued eligibility for other federal or state assistance programs for current beneficiaries.
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