Yes, a second wife can get her husband's Social Security, but eligibility depends on whether she's applying as a current spouse (survivor) or a divorced spouse, with specific rules: she can get benefits on his record if married 9+ months (survivor) or if divorced (10+ yr marriage, unmarried when claiming), but remarriage usually stops divorced spouse benefits, though they can resume if the new marriage ends. She generally receives up to 50% of his benefit amount (spousal) or 100% (survivor), and the Social Security Administration (SSA) pays the highest amount she qualifies for, not a combination.
If you remarry after age 60 – You may be eligible for survivors benefits on your deceased spouse's record or benefits on your new spouse's record. Contact us to find out where you are due the greatest benefit amount.
Divorced spouses are entitled to the greater of their own benefit or the ex-spouse's benefit. The maximum ex-spousal benefit is up to 50% of the higher earner's benefit and capped at their full retirement age (FRA) amount, also known as the Primary Insurance Amount or PIA.
There are limited circumstances in which remarrying does not terminate benefits you collect on the record of a living former spouse. One is if you remarry that same person. The other is if your new spouse is receiving certain types of Social Security benefits, specifically: Survivor benefits.
As a spouse, if you are eligible for benefits on both your own work record and your spouse's work record, you may be required to file for both benefits. We call this requirement “deemed filing,” because when you apply for one benefit, you are required or deemed to file for the other.
The biggest recent change is the Social Security Fairness Act (SSFA) of 2023, effective January 2024, which eliminated the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO), meaning your spouse's or survivor's benefits won't be reduced by your non-Social Security government pension anymore, making it much fairer. Also, the "file and suspend" strategy for spousal benefits ended for most, but the core rules remain: you get the higher of your own or your spousal benefit (up to 50% of your partner's), and you can generally switch from spousal to your own higher retirement benefit at full retirement age.
Ideally, an individual who obtained a green card through marriage should wait at least 5 years before getting remarried to a foreign national.
Yes, a divorced wife can get her ex-husband's Social Security benefits if their marriage lasted at least 10 years, she is unmarried, is at least 62, and her ex-spouse is eligible for benefits, with payments not reducing the ex-spouse's or their current spouse's benefits. Benefits are paid on the ex-spouse's record, up to half their benefit, and the ex-spouse's remarriage doesn't affect eligibility.
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.
You can receive up to 50% of your ex-husband's full Social Security benefit, but the actual percentage depends on when you start claiming; claiming early (as young as age 62) permanently reduces the amount to as low as 32.5% of his benefit, while waiting until your own Full Retirement Age (FRA) grants the full 50%. Your own work record benefit is always paid first, with an extra amount added from your ex's record if it's higher, and this doesn't affect his benefits or his current spouse's.
How can I find out if a former spouse is collecting Social Security benefits on my record? You ask the Social Security Administration. It can tell you the name of any “auxiliary beneficiary,” including an ex-husband or ex-wife who is drawing or has drawn benefits on your earnings record.
Not all U.S. workers qualify for Social Security retirement benefits. You can't collect Social Security in retirement if you haven't worked enough to accrue 40 credits, which takes approximately 10 years. Certain types of government workers may not be eligible, including some railroad employees.
You may be eligible if you're the spouse, ex-spouse, child, or dependent parent of someone who worked and paid Social Security taxes before they died.
Essential Requirements: How do I qualify for the $16728 Social Security bonus? To qualify for this bonus, you must meet specific criteria: Age Requirements: You must be between your full retirement age and 70 years old. Full retirement age varies by birth year – typically 66-67 for current retirees.
If you remarry after age 60 you can still receive survivor benefits based on your former spouse's record. But 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.
The seven-year itch is a popular belief, sometimes asserted to have statistical validity, that happiness in a marriage or long-term romantic relationship declines after around seven years.
Who qualifies for citizenship through marriage? A lawful permanent resident married to a U.S. citizen may be eligible to naturalize—become a citizen—after three years of living in marital union together. To qualify for naturalization under the marriage-based three-year rule, you must also: Be at least 18 years old.
Getting Married
If you're receiving spousal benefits based on your former spouse's work record, those benefits will generally end upon your getting remarried, but you may be able to receive benefits based on your new spouse's work record, or on your own.
He has passed away so she receives his full amount. All ok'ed with social security. You generally can't collect on an ex- spouse's record if you're currently married, unless you remarried after age 60 (for survivor benefits) or your current marriage ends.
More than half of female beneficiaries over age 60 will receive benefits based solely on their own work in 2025. By 2095, over 70 percent of women will receive such benefits. Over one-third of women will be dually entitled (receive a benefit based both on their own and their spouse's work) in 2025.
The Social Security spousal benefits loophole, primarily the "File and Suspend" and "Restricted Application" strategies, allowed a higher-earning spouse to delay their own benefits (earning delayed retirement credits) while the lower-earning spouse collected a spousal benefit based on the higher earner's record; however, a 2015 law closed these loopholes for most new applicants, meaning if one spouse claims spousal benefits, their own benefits are also considered claimed, and benefits can't be suspended to let spousal benefits accrue. A separate, less-known exception allows a spouse caring for a disabled adult child (under 22) to receive benefits even if they haven't reached retirement age, as noted by Special Needs Answers.