Surviving ex-spouses (and widows) are eligible for up to 100% of the decedent's benefit, rather than the prior 50% maximum. These are known as "survivors benefits." Remarrying after reaching age 60 won't affect your eligibility for survivors benefits, according to the SSA.
With Social Security, the longer you wait to claim, the larger the amount of monthly payments you'll generally receive on your own work record. However, your benefit as an ex-spouse will not get any larger than half your ex's PIA.
According to the Social Security Administration, you can receive your ex-spouse's benefits based on your own record as long as you were married to them for at least 10 years.
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.
If your spouse built up entitlement to the State Second Pension between 2002 and 2016, you are entitled to inherit 50% of this amount; PLUS. If your spouse built up entitlement to Graduated Retirement Benefit between 1961 and 1975, you are entitled to inherit 50% of this amount.
In your divorce agreement you may have given up the right to his retirement account from his work, but you can never give up the right to draw Social Security. Remember, drawing a Spousal benefit won't reduce the amount your ex spouse can get!
If you die shortly after retirement, your surviving spouse could receive cost-of-living adjusted payments for 50 years or more. Lifetime payments from an original election to cover $2,000 of retired pay could total more than two million dollars.
Have you heard about the Social Security $16,728 yearly bonus? There's really no “bonus” that retirees can collect. The Social Security Administration (SSA) uses a specific formula based on your lifetime earnings to determine your benefit amount.
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.
Answer: Both your current spouse and your ex could be entitled to survivor benefits based on your work record. Typically someone must be married nine months to qualify for survivor benefits on a current spouse's record. If the spouses divorced, the marriage must have lasted 10 years.
You must have been married to your ex-spouse for 10 years or more. If you've remarried, you can't collect benefits on your former spouse's record unless your later marriage ended by annulment, divorce, or death.
Bottom Line. Getting remarried will not affect your accrued retirement or disability benefits under Social Security. However, if you receive divorce of survivor's benefits, there is a good chance that remarriage will affect those payments.
Spouses and ex-spouses
Payments start at 71.5% of your spouse's benefit and increase the longer you wait to apply. For example, you might get: Over 75% at age 61. Over 80% at age 63.
The widow's penalty occurs when a surviving spouse's tax status reverts from married filing jointly to single. If you're a widow or widower, you can file a joint tax return for the year of your spouse's death.
As a surviving spouse, you're entitled to 100% of the deceased's benefits once you reach full retirement age. The full retirement age can differ based on the type of benefit. See this chart for the survivor's full retirement age.
If you are age 62, unmarried, and divorced from someone entitled to Social Security retirement or disability benefits, you may be eligible to receive benefits based on his or her record. To be eligible, you must have been married to your ex-spouse for 10 years or more.
If your ex-husband passes away, you may be eligible for survivor benefits based on his work record. The eligibility requirements for survivor benefits are similar to those for Social Security benefits, with a few key differences: Your marriage must have lasted at least ten years before the divorce was finalized.
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.
Depending on the widow's or widower's circumstances, however, this benefit may substantially reduce her (his) monthly household income because only one Social Security benefit is now arriving (whichever is higher), not the two benefits that the couple received before the spouse's death.
If you are married or in an adult interdependent partnership and you have children who are not also the children or your surviving spouse or adult interdependent partner, your surviving spouse or adult interdependent partner will be entitled to receive either 50% of your estate or an amount set out in the Act at the ...
A widow's benefit is generally calculated on the benefit your late spouse was receiving from Social Security at the time of death. The AARP says that the actual amount of your payment will differ according to the following factors: If you have reached full retirement age, you may receive 100% of the benefit.