The death benefit wasn’t meant to stick around, but somehow it did.
Q: My husband of 49 years died a few months ago. I filed for widow’s benefits and started receiving them with no problem. But I got a letter telling me that I was not eligible for the $255 death benefit. When I called the Social Security people to ask about this, they told me that I wasn’t due that one-time benefit because we were not living together when he died. I’m ashamed to admit that my husband had been living with another woman for several years before he died. But it seems odd to me that I can get his monthly widow’s benefits, but I can’t get the burial benefit. Can you explain this?
A: Yes, I can. And it all has to do with the weird story behind that one-time $255 “death benefit.” Before I can answer your question, I’ve got to get into a little history. It didn’t start out as a death benefit, exactly, at least not in the context in which it is thought of today. It certainly was never meant to be a “burial benefit,” as you and many other people call it.
As part of the thinking that went into the original Social Security Act passed in 1935, Congress realized that many of the new Social Security taxpayers would die before they ever had a chance to collect benefits. Or they would die without having earned enough “quarters of coverage” to be insured for survivor benefits for any dependents. So they decided to compensate the families of a loved one who died with some form of reimbursement for the Social Security taxes that the deceased had paid into the system. They set up a one-time benefit they called the “lump sum death payment.” It was originally intended to reimburse the family with an amount equal to 3.5 percent of the money the deceased had paid into the system.
It was supposed to be a temporary benefit, because Congress knew that as time passed, most workers would be paying a sufficient amount of money into Social Security so that they would be insured for survivor benefits. In other words, when a taxpayer died, the widow or widower (and any minor children) would get monthly benefits—so this lump sum payout would no longer be needed.
But as often happens with government programs, once you start paying a benefit, it’s hard to take it away. Over the years, there have been any number of proposals to eliminate the lump sum death payment. But as miserly as the benefit is, it’s a popular feature of the Social Security program. Politicians soon learned that tampering with it meant an automatic loss in the next election. So the “temporary benefit” never went away.
But occasionally, Congress has made some relatively minor adjustments to the original law. In 1954, they capped the benefit at $255—and it’s remained at that level ever since. And in 1983, when politicians were looking for ways to save money in the Social Security system, they restricted the payment of the one-time death payment to a “spouse who was living with the deceased at the time of death.” Because your husband was living with another woman when he died, you don’t qualify for that death benefit.
Today, we essentially have a meaningless, one-time miserly payment that comes with restrictions. Perhaps 50 years ago, $255 paid the cost of a funeral. Of course, today, it barely covers the price of the flowers. If I were the king of the Social Security world, I would do one of two things. Either I would raise the death benefit to something meaningful—say, $2,500—or I would simply eliminate it.
But I’m a columnist, not a king. So all I can do is explain the law and answer any questions you might have about it. Here are a few more.
Q: My wife recently died. She was a homemaker all of her life, so she was getting spousal benefits on my record. Everything went fine with stopping her Social Security checks. But I have two questions. When will I get the $255 death benefit? And will my benefit go up to give me credit for the spousal share that was being deducted from my checks?
A: I’m sorry, but the $255 death benefit is only paid on the account of someone who had worked and paid Social Security taxes. It sounds like your wife never did that because she was just receiving spousal benefits, not her own Social Security. And the money paid to a spouse is just an “add-on” benefit. In other words, nothing was taken out of your retirement check to pay her, so your retirement benefit rate will remain the same.
Q: My husband died five years ago when I was in my late 50s. I don’t ever remember getting the death benefit. Was it automatic?
A: No, it’s not automatic. You must apply for the death benefit. I’m not sure, but it might be too late to file for it now. To find out, call Social Security at 800-772-1213.
Q: My father died on June 25. My parents were divorced, although they were still close friends. My mother applied for and started getting divorced widow’s benefits on his record. But I have two questions. Why did she have to return his June check? And why didn’t she get the $255 death benefit?
A: She had to return the June check because Social Security benefits are not prorated. Since your father didn’t live the entire month of June, the check for that month had to be returned. But there is an upside to that lack of prorating: Your mother started getting divorced widow’s benefits for the whole month of June, even though she was a widow for only five days in that month.
As far as the death benefit goes, the law says it can only be paid to a widow who was living with the deceased at the time of death. I assume your divorced parents weren’t living together, which is why the $255 can’t be paid to her.
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