It's important to know that you can ask for a share of your spouse's retirement benefit in your divorce. Even if your divorce decree awards you a share of the retirement benefit, though, you might still not be able to receive it unless you take certain additional steps after your divorce.
In community property states, marital property, including pension, is divided in half. Nine states—California, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Louisiana, New Mexico, Washington, Texas, Wisconsin—and Puerto Rico follow community property guidelines.
DIVIDING YOUR PENSION
In its division of the assets, the court could decide to award an “in-kind” division of the pension – usually a 50:50 split of the community property share – assigning each party a percentage interest to be paid upon the member's retirement, termination, or death.
Most pension plans automatically pay a surviving spouse benefit to the current spouse at the time of the employee's death. It is not uncommon for the death benefit to be paid to the new spouse - even if the former spouse was specifically awarded the benefits under the divorce decree.
Spouse benefit provisions of private pension plans reflect the influence of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) . Pension plans are not required by law, but once established, ERISA requires that they provide for annuities to spouses of deceased employees.
If the ex-spouse passed away without leaving a valid will, the distribution of their assets is governed by the state's intestacy laws. In most states, a divorced spouse is not considered an heir under intestacy laws and is not entitled to any of their ex's property.
To qualify as a surviving divorced spouse, you must meet the conditions below: Be at least age 60. Were married for at least 10 years. Have evidence of a finalized divorce.
A surviving spouse, surviving divorced spouse, unmarried child, or dependent parent may be eligible for monthly survivor benefits based on the deceased worker's earnings. In addition, a one-time lump sum death payment of $255 can be made to a qualifying spouse or child if they meet certain requirements.
You cannot claim your deceased spouse's benefits in addition to your own retirement benefits. Social Security only will pay one—survivor or retirement. If you qualify for both survivor and retirement benefits, you will receive whichever amount is higher.
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.
When a worker files for retirement benefits, the worker's spouse may be eligible for a benefit based on the worker's earnings. Another requirement is that the spouse must be at least age 62 or have a qualifying child in her/his care.
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.
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.
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.
Can an Ex-Spouse Inherit From the Decedent's Estate? Once a divorce is finalized and assets have been divided between the former spouses, the ex-spouse will generally have no right to an inheritance from their ex-spouse's estate if their ex-spouse dies.
Original divorce agreement: If the divorce decree explicitly states that the pension is to be divided, the ex-spouse may still have a claim, even years later. State laws: Some states have statutes of limitations on claims against retirement assets, while others may allow claims to be made at any time.
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.
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.