Use the Survivor Planning Calculator to help widows and widowers determine when to claim their survivor benefit as it coordinates
with their own retirement benefit. You will need to know the widow’s own PIA as well as the amount of the survivor benefit.
For greatest accuracy, have the widow contact SSA and ask for the amount of the survivor benefit if it is claimed at the widow’s FRA.
If this is not possible, you can use the deceased spouse’s PIA from a recent statement (if decedent hadn’t started claiming yet) or,
if the deceased spouse was receiving benefits at the time of death, use that benefit amount and also enter the age the decedent originally
claimed his/her benefit. The calculator will determine the original survivor benefit and adjust it based on the widow’s claiming age.
The tutorial may be viewed at the bottom of the Calculators page, as well as below.