The Surviving Widow(er) Income Fair Treatment Act of 2025 makes three major changes to Social Security survivors benefits, effective January 1, 2027. The bill removes age restrictions that currently limit disabled widows, widowers, and surviving divorced spouses to age 50 or older, allowing them to receive full benefits at any age and eliminating reductions for those claiming before retirement age. It also extends child-in-care benefits by raising the age limit for qualifying children from 16 to 18 (or 19 if a full-time student), and creates a new delayed-claiming credit system that allows widow and widower benefits to increase for those who postpone claiming, up to the amount the deceased worker's own retirement benefit would have been. The Social Security Administration is required to produce and distribute an informational booklet by January 2027 explaining these benefit options, and the law includes a provision ensuring that increased Social Security benefits do not reduce eligibility for other federal or state assistance programs.
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