How much do you need?

First, count Social Security survivor benefits

Before you decide how much income your family would need to replace, look at what Social Security would already pay them. For a family with young children, this can be a large monthly check, and it directly lowers how much life insurance you need. Most people skip it, and end up overestimating the gap.

Survivor benefits are monthly payments to the family of a worker who paid into Social Security and worked long enough. The amount is based on the earnings record of the person who died, so a higher lifetime income means a higher benefit.

One reassuring point for young families: you don't need a long work history for your children to be covered. Social Security can pay benefits to your children, and to a spouse caring for them, if you had credit for as little as one and a half years of work in the three years before your death.

Who can receive them

Several people in your family might qualify, and more than one can collect at the same time. Here's each, in plain terms.

Your husband or wife. The age rules depend on their situation:

• If they're at their full retirement age or older, they can receive the full survivor benefit.
• From age 60, they can start it early, at a reduced amount. From age 50 if they have a disability.
• Here's the big one for young families: at any age, with no waiting, if they're caring for your child who is under 16 or has a disability.

Your children. An unmarried child can receive a benefit if they're under 18, or 18 to 19 and still in high school full time. A child of any age can receive it if a disability began before they turned 22. Each eligible child can get their own check.

An ex-husband or ex-wife. A former spouse may qualify too, usually if the marriage lasted at least 10 years. That 10-year rule is set aside if they're caring for your child. Benefits to an ex don't reduce what your current family gets.

A parent who depended on you. A parent age 62 or older who relied on you for support may qualify.

The rules that matter

A one-time payment of $255. Social Security also pays a single $255 death benefit to an eligible surviving spouse or child. Survivors have to apply for it within two years of the death, so it's worth calling Social Security promptly.

There's a family maximum. The total a single family can draw on one worker's record is capped, generally somewhere between 150% and 180% of the worker's own benefit. If the family's benefits would add up to more, everyone's payment is trimmed to fit.

Remarriage matters, and timing matters. Remarrying before age 60, or 50 with a disability, generally ends a surviving spouse's survivor benefit. Remarrying at 60 or later doesn't. And a survivor who also qualifies for their own retirement benefit can take one now and switch to the other later, whichever ends up larger.

Working can reduce it, for a while. If a survivor is younger than full retirement age and keeps working, earnings above a yearly limit can temporarily lower the benefit. It isn't lost for good; it's credited back later.

How to find your own number

These benefits are individual, so we can't put a figure in for you, and you shouldn't guess at one. You can see survivor estimates in your free my Social Security account. Note that you can't apply for survivor benefits online; a survivor has to call Social Security or visit an office. The full rules are at ssa.gov/survivor.

For the fuller picture, including retirement benefits and how the age you start changes the amount, see our plain-English guide to Social Security.

Once you have a rough monthly figure, subtract it from the income your family would need, and put what's left into the "yearly income to replace" box below.

How this works, and where to be careful

The tool adds up your family's needs, subtracts what they'd already have, and shows the difference. That difference is the coverage gap. It follows the same needs-based method the Insurance Information Institute and the NAIC walk through, not a "multiply your income" shortcut, which ignores your debts, your savings, and other income.

The one choice that moves the number most is the "how should that money be used" toggle. Spending the payout down over a set number of years needs a smaller amount. Keeping it whole and living on the interest needs a much larger one, because the principal is never touched. Most online calculators hide this. It's the biggest reason two good tools can give very different answers.

A few limits. This keeps the math simple and doesn't finely model inflation or investment growth over decades, so treat the result as a starting point, not a precise figure. Social Security survivor benefits can be a real source of income for your family, so enter the income to replace after counting them; you can check your own at ssa.gov. And the number this gives you is an amount of coverage, not a price. What a policy costs is set separately, by your age and health.

Common questions

Last updated: July 23, 2026