Social Security Widows Benefits 2024 Dates. Survivor benefits provide monthly payments to eligible family members of people who worked and paid social security taxes before they died. A widow is entitled to social security survivor benefits when her husband dies, provided her husband worked long enough prior to his death to earn eligibility for social security.

The earliest you can file for social security retirement benefits is normally 62, although for widows and widowers it’s 60. The earliest a widow or widower can start receiving social security survivors benefits based on age will remain at age 60.