Social Security benefits are not divided when a couple divorces. But, an ex-spouse can claim spousal benefits through the Social Security Administration. Most couples are not comprised of two equal wage earners. One spouse may have opted out or reduced their time in the workforce during their marriage.
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.
Benefits For Your Spouse
Even if they have never worked under Social Security, your spouse may be eligible for benefits if they are at least 62 years of age and you are receiving retirement or disability benefits.
The three strategies below will help you make the most of your Social Security spousal benefits, depending on your circumstances. However, keep in mind that, regardless of your circumstances, the most a spouse can get is 50% of the amount that the higher-earning partner is entitled to at full retirement age.
you're eligible for some of your ex's Social Security
wives and widows. That means most divorced women collect their own Social Security while the ex is alive, but can apply for higher widow's rates when he dies.
This is good news when former spouses are not on good terms. Your ex cannot “block” you from drawing your spousal benefit. In fact, he probably won't even know if you are drawing off him unless he calls SSA to ask.
If you are receiving retirement or disability benefits, your spouse may be eligible for spouse benefits if they are: At least age 62. Any age and caring for a child who is under age 16 or who has a disability that began before age 22.
How much of the benefit will I receive? You are eligible to receive one-half (50%) of your ex-spouse's retirement benefit. If your ex-spouse should die before you, you can receive their full retirement benefit. The benefit does not include any delayed retirement credits your ex-spouse may receive.
If you qualify for your own retirement benefit and a spouse's benefit, we always pay your own benefit first. You cannot receive spouse's benefits unless your spouse is receiving his or her retirement benefits (except for divorced spouses).
With the first strategy, sometimes called the “62/70 split,” the lower-earning spouse takes Social Security as early as age 62 and the higher-earning spouse postpones filing until age 70 to maximize his or her benefit.
Yes, you can. Notify the Social Security Administration that you were married more than once and may qualify for benefits on more than one spouse's earnings record. They will be able to tell you which record provides the higher payment and set your benefit accordingly.
Whether you can make this switch is determined by whether your spouse is already receiving benefits. If your spouse is not receiving any retirement benefits yet, then you could technically take your regular Social Security benefit as early as age 62.
There is no hard and fast rule on this. Generally, a claim can be brought at any time until a consent order is put in place. However, waiting too long after your divorce could make obtaining a share of your former spouse's retirement benefits more difficult, or even impossible.
A wife with no work record or low benefit entitlement on her own work record is eligible for between one-third and one-half of her spouse's Social Security benefit.
These are examples of the benefits that survivors may receive: Surviving spouse, full retirement age or older — 100% of the deceased worker's benefit amount. Surviving spouse, age 60 — through full retirement age — 71½ to 99% of the deceased worker's basic amount.
You can claim even if your ex has remarried. You can claim even if your ex hasn't retired and isn't receiving Social Security benefits (as long as your ex is at least 62). Claiming won't reduce your ex's Social Security benefits or his or her current spouse's benefits.
If you've worked and paid Social Security taxes for 10 years or more, you'll get a monthly benefit based on that work.
The Social Security disability five-year rule allows people to skip a required waiting period for receiving disability benefits if they had previously received disability benefits, stopped collecting those benefits and then became unable to work again within five years.
Filing for Social Security at age 62 could also end up making sense financially if you're worried you won't end up living a very long life. While you'll shrink your benefits on a monthly basis, by getting to collect that money sooner, you might end up with a higher amount of lifetime benefits.
The longer the spouse with the higher benefit waits to start collecting, the higher benefits will be for both spouses. Delaying the higher earning spouse's benefits could also eventually increase the other spouse's survivors benefits.
The maximum benefit depends on the age you retire. For example, if you retire at full retirement age in 2024, your maximum benefit would be $3,822. However, if you retire at age 62 in 2024, your maximum benefit would be $2,710. If you retire at age 70 in 2024, your maximum benefit would be $4,873.
If you remarry after age 60, you can still receive survivor benefits based on your former spouse's record. However, if your new spouse is also collecting Social Security benefits and you would receive a higher amount based on the new spouse's work record, you will receive the higher amount.
Your full spouse's benefit could be up to one-half the amount your spouse is entitled to receive at their full retirement age. If you choose to receive your spouse's benefits before you reach full retirement age, you will get a permanently reduced benefit.
If you have your ex-spouse's Social Security number, you can look up the former spouse's benefits information on the Social Security website. If you don't have that number, you can ask your ex-spouse for it—if you're still on speaking terms, that is.