If you are getting a pension from your late husband, YES, you will lose it the moment you re-marry.
Spousal Social Security benefits stop as soon as you remarry AT ANY AGE. Then start again after a year of marriage to your new spouse (if you meet the age and other qualifications).
Remarriage: In many cases, remarriage of your ex-husband does not affect your rights to the pension unless the divorce decree specifies otherwise. To get a definitive answer, it would be best to consult a family law attorney who can provide guidance based on your specific situation and local laws.
Retirement Benefits
Did you know that when you enter into a new marriage or registered domestic partnership it revokes any beneficiary designation you may have on file with CalPERS?
Laws Surrounding Pensions and Divorce
To gain access to a percentage of your pension, your spouse would have to specifically ask for their share at the time of the divorce – not at the time of your retirement. This is done via a court order called a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO).
If you get Social Security disability or retirement benefits and you marry, your benefit will stay the same. However, other benefits such as SSI, Survivors, Divorced Spouses, and Child's benefits may be affected.
Your pension will continue even if you remarry.
To receive a spouse benefit, you generally must have been married for at least one continuous year to the retired or disabled worker on whose earnings record you are claiming benefits. There are narrow exceptions to the one-year rule.
If the spouses divorced, the marriage must have lasted 10 years. Each survivor benefit can be up to 100% of your benefit. The amount may be reduced if the women start benefits before their own full retirement age, but they don't have to share — the amount isn't reduced because you've had more than one spouse.
When Spousal Support Automatically Ends on the Recipient's Remarriage. In most states—including California, Georgia, New York, and Texas—the obligation to pay alimony automatically ends when the recipient remarries, unless the couple had an agreement otherwise (more on that below).
Unless court ordered, remarriage of a former spouse will not stop the direct payment of retired pay as property. For divorces finalized on or after November 14, 1986, PL 99-661 permits state courts to order SBP coverage.
Marriage has its perks
Social Security covers both spouses, regardless of whether one or both brought home a paycheck over the years.
Your former spouse must report the amount of apportionment they receive as taxable income and is required to pay taxes on this income.
If Your Ex-Spouse Dies Without a Will
Generally, the law divides property between a legal spouse, parents, and blood-related or adopted children. While you could inherit from a will if you were legally married but estranged, such is not the case for an ex who dies without a will.
A widow(er) is eligible to receive benefits if she or he is at least age 60. If a widow(er) remarries before age 60, she or he forfeits the benefit and, therefore, faces a marriage penalty. Under current law, there is no penalty if the remarriage occurs at 60 years of age or later.
Surviving spouse, at full retirement age or older, generally gets 100% of the worker's basic benefit amount. Surviving spouse, age 60 or older, but under full retirement age, gets between 71% and 99% of the worker's basic benefit amount.
A general rule of thumb when it comes to splitting pensions in divorce is that a spouse will receive half of what was earned during the marriage.
How Remarriage Affects Survivors' Benefits. You can't receive Social Security survivor's benefits if you remarry before 60. If you remarry after age 60 (50 if disabled), you can still collect benefits on your former spouse's record.
How your beneficiary is paid depends on your plan. For example, some plans may pay out a single lump sum, while others will issue payments over a set period of time (such as five,10, or even 20 years), or an annuity with monthly lifetime payments.
You'll get any State Pension based on your husband, wife or civil partner's National Insurance contribution when you claim your own pension. You will not get it if you remarry or form a new civil partnership before you reach State Pension age.
Getting Married
However, if you remarry after age 60 (or after 50 and are disabled), those benefits remain intact, unless you get spousal benefits through your new spouse (at age 62 or older) if those benefits are higher.
Single people, while more physically active, have poorer diets than married people. Married people also have built-in social and emotional support in each other, are less likely to participate in risky behaviours (such as problem drinking) and have better economic conditions compared to single people.
For a spouse who is not entitled to benefits on his or her own earnings record, this reduction factor is applied to the base spousal benefit, which is 50 percent of the worker's primary insurance amount.