Thanks for letting me know I did not need to report the death benefit on my federal taxes. I did need to include it for informational purposes on my state taxes.
I'm not sure if you were just adding information for other reasons when you mentioned that the benefit is paid to children. But, to clarify, I am the surviving spouse. A one-time lump-sum death payment of $255 can be paid to the surviving spouse if they were living with the deceased, which I was.
https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/survivors/
