Social Security benefits are not inheritable for adult children. An adult whose parents received Social Security benefits cannot "inherit" those benefits directly when their parent dies. Only adult children with disabilities can receive Social Security benefits after their parents die.

If the deceased parent was retired and receiving retirement benefits, those payments stop after death. Usually, the funeral home informs the Social Security Administration (SSA) of the individual’s death, stopping the payments automatically. If the SSA makes any benefit payments after the individual’s death, those checks must be returned.

Social Security Benefits for Survivors

When a parent’s Social Security benefits cease, an adult child cannot collect or inherit those benefits. The only time an adult child may be able to receive Social Security benefits after a parent dies is if they have a qualifying disability.

Other types of survivors—spouses in particular—can receive other forms of Social Security benefits, known as Social Security survivor benefits. The goal of this program is to partially replace the income that is lost due to old age, the death of a spouse or qualifying ex-spouse, or disability.

Social Security Benefits for Adult Children

Adult children are eligible to receive survivor benefits if:

• They are between the ages of 18 and 19 and a full-time high school student
• They are 18 or older with a disability that began before age 22 and never earned over substantial gainful activity (SGA)
• The disabled adult child is unmarried or married to a disabled spouse
• Their deceased parent worked for long enough at a job at which they paid Social Security taxes

The disabled adult child’s disability must be approved according to SSA medical criteria.

Like an individual’s SSA retirement benefit, the amount of the payment the adult child receives is tied to their parents’ SSA tax contributions and their parents’ age when they took retirement. An adult child with a disability receives 75% of the deceased parent’s benefit.

To ensure that their disabled adult child receives that benefit, parents can take steps while they're still alive to smooth the process by having basic documents prepared ahead of time.

Here are a few things that can be done:

• The surviving disabled adult child must be documented as the parent’s child with a birth certificate or adoption papers.
• The deceased parent and surviving child must have Social Security numbers
• If the parent is already on Social Security retirement or disability benefits themselves, they can have their disabled adult child added to their account as an auxiliary while they are still living
  

How to Enroll for SSI Benefits

Another step that parents of a disabled adult child may be able to take to ensure their child receives benefits is to get them into the Social Security benefits system while the parents are alive. They may be eligible to receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) on the disabled child’s behalf. SSI is a monthly payment designed to help needy families, including families raising a child with a disability.

SSI payments are made until the child is 18. After age 18, the disabled child becomes eligible for SSDI benefits as a disabled adult child. Upon the death of the parent, they become eligible for the survivor’s benefit described above.

If the parent is already on Social Security retirement or disability benefits themselves, they can have their disabled adult child added to their account as an auxiliary while they are still living. This is by far the most streamlined process for receiving Social Security benefits.

The Bottom Line

Although adult children cannot inherit a parent's or guardian's retirement benefits when the parent dies, they may be eligible for Social Security benefits if they are disabled. When comfortable, adult children should talk to their parents about their finances to ensure their estate is set up for when they die.