Social Security Payments and Young Children
Social security benefits are not just for retirement. Surviving spouses and young children can benefit from social security payments. Although originally intended to provide retired workers with a financial base for retirement, social security payments are available for the family of a deceased parent or spouse. When discussing estate planning, make sure to ask your lawyer about how to secure any social security due to you or your children.
When the parent of young children dies, the children can immediately start collecting the deceased parent’s social security benefits. The children can collect this money until 18. Then those benefits stop until the surviving spouse reaches retirement age. Upon retirement age, the surviving spouse can claim his or her spouse’s social security benefits.
A social security benefit claim can be extremely helpful for a young family. If the surviving parent needs income replacement or child-care funds, those social security payments simply make life easier for the grieving family. If income or child care is not a concern, those social security payments can go into tax deferred college funds to ensure the kids have enough money for college without relying on student loans.
Social security is intended to help families in financially difficult times. Make sure to include these funds in your estate planning. With help from your lawyer, you can put these funds to use and ensure a stable future for your family.
