If a student was on the SS claim until 2018 and the retired father was 68 with having filed early for SS RIB, doesn't the PIA recalculation need to be done? As the NH passed away in late 2018, and the surviving ex wife filed after he died. The ex-wife is not the mother of the child. The son had been paid his father's FRB at 50% while alive, then became ineligible after graduation. With the child and surviving divorced wife being drawn from the auxiliary benefits would have this have adjusted the NH benefit in reconsideration after NH's death? I understand the NH could not benefit from the elimination of the child on his record prior to his death, but question whether the PIA would adjust for the last and only survivor of his record, his ex wife? Thank you in advance.

Hi,

Not necessarily. The number and type of family members drawing benefits on a worker's Social Security account has no bearing on the amount of the worker's primary insurance amount (PIA). Furthermore, the PIA of a worker who's drawing their Social Security retirement benefits wouldn't change as a result of their death. Therefore, the changes you describe in this family's case wouldn't change the worker's PIA.

The PIA of a worker drawing retirement benefits is based on an average of their highest 35 years of Social Security covered wage-indexed earnings. The only thing that would cause their PIA to go up would be if the person works and replaces one their highest 35 earnings years with a higher year of earnings.

What can change when a worker dies is the percentage of the PIA that can be paid to family members. For example, the unreduced benefit rate that can be paid to a child receiving benefits on the account of a living parent is 50% of the PIA. However, a surviving child can be paid up to 75% of a deceased worker's PIA. And, a spouse or divorced spouse eligible for benefits on the account of a living worker can potentially be paid an unreduced benefit rate of up to 50% of the worker's PIA, whereas a widow or surviving divorced spouse can be paid up to 100% of the worker's PIA augmented by any delayed retirement credits (DRC) that the worker earned.

Best, Jerry