If you are getting a pension from your late husband, YES, you will lose it the moment you re-marry.
If my ex-spouse remarries, will his/her share of the pension come back to me? a. Generally, no. As with other divided property, the ex-spouse's share of the pension remains his/her property.
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?
Your pension will continue even if you remarry.
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.
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.
The pension remains payable while you remain widowed or a surviving civil partner. If you re-marry or start to cohabit, it is no longer payable.
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.
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.
The Bottom Line. If you were married to them for at least 10 years, you may be able to collect Social Security benefits based on your ex's work record. If you meet the requirements, you can receive benefits equal to as much as 50% of your ex's retirement benefit.
And if your ex-spouse has remarried, both you and the new spouse may be eligible for spousal and survivor benefits. Benefits paid to you (the ex-spouse) will not affect the benefits of their new spouse. Does my ex-spouse need to apply for their retirement benefit for me to receive a benefit off them? No.
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.
Impact of remarrying: If you remarry before age 60 (or 50 if disabled), you typically won't be eligible to collect survivor benefits from your former spouse. However, if the subsequent marriage ends, you may become eligible again.
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.
The full retirement age for survivors is age 66 for people born in 1945-1956. And the full retirement age will gradually increase to age 67 for people born in 1962 or later. Your widow or widower can get reduced benefits as early as age 60.
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.
Namely, if you remarry before the age of 60 (or age 50 if you are disabled), you cannot receive benefits as a surviving spouse while you are married. If you remarry after the age of 60 (or age 50 if you are disabled), you will continue to qualify for benefits on your deceased spouse's Social Security record.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pension benefits are typically a fixed monthly payment in retirement that is guaranteed for life. Some pension benefits grow with inflation. Other pension benefits can be passed on to a spouse or dependent. But pensions aren't the only financial route to guaranteed lifetime income after you retire.