A New Bill Could Give Widows and Widowers Bigger Social Security Checks

Losing a spouse can bring an immediate financial shock in addition to the emotional toll. A household that had been receiving two Social Security checks may suddenly have to cover many of the same bills with substantially less income.

A new bill from Rep. Linda Sánchez of California aims to soften that drop for some two-income couples. The Protecting Our Widows and Widowers in Retirement (POWR) Act could create an alternative survivor-benefit calculation for surviving spouses living on just Social Security, potentially resulting in a larger monthly check.

Why surviving spouses can lose income

Under current Social Security rules, a surviving spouse generally doesn't continue collecting their own full retirement benefit plus their deceased spouse's full benefit.

At full retirement age, a surviving spouse can generally receive up to 100% of the deceased worker's benefit. If they also qualify on their own work record, Social Security doesn't add the two checks together. The survivor generally receives the higher applicable amount.

As a result, two-earner couples can see a sharp drop in household income. Sánchez's office says the average widow experiences a 33% to 50% reduction in Social Security benefits after losing a spouse. Yet it cited research indicating surviving spouses may need about 79% of the couple's previous combined income to maintain the same standard of living.

The POWR Act would introduce a 75% option

The POWR Act would give some two-income couples another way to calculate survivor benefits. Under the bill, a qualifying widow or widower could generally receive the greater of the existing survivor benefit or an alternative amount equal to 75% of the sum of the survivor's own benefit and the deceased spouse's primary insurance amount, subject to a cap.

"The grief of losing a loved one shouldn't be compounded by the stress of financial hardship," Sánchez said when introducing the bill. "Sadly, that's the reality for too many surviving spouses, who can lose half their household income overnight."

She added: "The POWR Act moves to fix that. After decades of hard work and paying into the system, widows and widowers deserve to keep the benefits they earned together."

Here's how a surviving spouse could get a bigger check

Suppose one spouse receives $2,400 per month from Social Security and the other receives $1,600. Together, they have $4,000 per month in Social Security income.

If the spouse receiving $2,400 dies first, the survivor could generally receive that higher $2,400 benefit under today's rules, reducing household Social Security income from $4,000 to $2,400.

In a simplified example where those monthly amounts also reflect the figures used by the bill's formula, the POWR Act's alternative calculation would produce a $3,000 monthly benefit. Assuming the survivor qualified and the bill's benefit cap didn't reduce the amount, that could mean an additional $600 per month, or $7,200 per year.

The exact increase would depend on each spouse's benefit history, claiming decisions, and other Social Security rules, so not every two-earner couple would see the same result.

Not every widow or widower would get an increase

The proposal wouldn't simply increase every survivor's Social Security check by 75%. You would still receive the existing survivor benefit if that produced the larger amount. The new 75% calculation would only make a difference when it resulted in a higher benefit, and even then, the bill includes a cap tied to the national average wage index.

In practice, two-earner couples with relatively similar Social Security benefits could have more to gain. Consider a couple receiving $2,500 each. They have $5,000 in combined monthly benefits while both are alive, but the surviving spouse could generally be left with $2,500 under current rules.

In a simplified example where those amounts also match the figures used by the bill's formula, the alternative benefit would be $3,750 before applying the POWR Act's cap.

By comparison, if one spouse received a much larger benefit than the other, the existing survivor benefit may already replace a larger share of their former combined income, leaving less room for an increase.

The bill also protects SSI eligibility

Lower-income retirees would get an additional safeguard as well. Any increase resulting from the POWR Act wouldn't count as income when determining SSI eligibility or payment amounts, helping prevent a larger survivor benefit from reducing SSI assistance.

The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare has endorsed the proposal, arguing that survivor benefits are particularly important to women, who typically earn less during their working years and tend to outlive their spouses.

Your Social Security check isn't changing yet

The biggest catch is that the POWR Act is only a proposal. Sánchez introduced H.R. 10235 on September 2 with six Democratic cosponsors. It was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee, and the official legislative record currently shows no further action. It would need to advance through Congress and become law before the new survivor calculation could take effect.

If enacted, the changes would apply to benefits payable after December 2026. However, that doesn't mean higher checks are scheduled for January because Congress would still have to pass the bill first.

Until then, current survivor rules remain in place. Social Security says surviving spouses can generally begin receiving survivor benefits at age 60, or age 50 if they have a qualifying disability, although claiming before survivor full retirement age can reduce the monthly amount.

Bottom line

The POWR Act could give some widows and widowers in two-income households a larger Social Security check by introducing an alternative benefit based on 75% of the sum of the survivor's own benefit and the deceased spouse's primary insurance amount.

Couples whose individual benefits are relatively similar could see some of the larger increases, but nothing is changing yet because H.R. 10235 remains in committee. Widows and widowers hoping to boost a fixed income should not plan around a larger check unless Congress passes the bill and it becomes law.

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