What Happens If I Remarry? Generally, you cannot collect benefits on your ex-spouse's work record unless your second marriage ends by annulment, divorce, or death. Your SSI benefits payments may change based on your new spouse's record.
If you are divorced, your ex-spouse can receive benefits based on your record (even if you have remarried) if: Your marriage lasted 10 years or longer. Your ex-spouse is unmarried. Your ex-spouse is age 62 or older.
Legally you are not a widow. Once the divorce is finalized, you are no longer married. You do not have the legal rights of a widow and do not automatically inherit anything from his estate.
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. Under current law, there is no penalty if the remarriage occurs at 60 years of age or later.
A divorced spouse can receive up to 50% of an ex-spouse's Social Security benefits if the marriage lasted at least 10 years and the divorced spouse is divorced at least two years, unmarried and at least 62. The benefit doesn't increase existing payments or reduce the ex-spouse's benefits.
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.
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.
If you re-married and your second spouse is deceased, you qualify to claim benefits from either your first spouse if that marriage lasted at least 10 years, or your second spouse if you were married at least 9 months before they died.
If you get Social Security disability or retirement benefits and you marry, your benefit will stay the same. However, other benefits such as SSI, Survivors, Divorced Spouses, and Child's benefits may be affected.
For example, if you were to get married for a second time without a will, trust, nor prenuptial agreement, your second wife would be entitled to 50% of your community property earned during your second marriage, while your children from your first marriage would also be entitled to 50% after your death.
Social Security's Surviving Divorced Spouse Benefits are federally funded and administered by the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA). These benefits are paid to the divorced spouse of a deceased worker who had earned enough work credits.
Instead, the surviving spouse becomes a widow or widower. The court dismisses the divorce case when one spouse dies before the process finalizes, even if some of the division of property processes have already begun.
Widowed means that you had a spouse or common-law partner who is now deceased. Divorced means that you are legally divorced from your former spouse. Single means that none of the other marital statuses applies to you.
You may experience a range of different emotions—grief, anger, hurt, jealousy, acceptance, longing—that come and go in waves as your mind grapples with the news.
If you've worked and paid Social Security taxes for 10 years or more, you'll get a monthly benefit based on that work.
If you are married and you and your spouse have worked and earned enough credits individually, you will each get your own Social Security benefit.
In 2023, this maximum benefit is $914 a month. However, if two beneficiaries are married to each other, they are considered an eligible couple and don't get their own separate benefits. The government applies a couple's rate of $1,371 a month — 1.5 times the individual benefit.
Yes. If you qualify for your own retirement and spouse's benefits, we will always pay your own benefits first.
Be sure to tell us about the change by the 10th day of the month after it happened. For example, if you get married on January 27th, tell us about the change to your marital status by February 10th. If you're not sure if the change is something that's important for our records, let us know anyway.
Social Security survivors benefits are paid to widows, widowers, and dependents of eligible workers. This benefit is particularly important for young families with children.
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.
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).
Depending on their circumstances, divorced Social Security beneficiaries can receive either retired-worker benefits, which are based on the individual's own covered earnings history; auxiliary benefits, which are determined by a living or deceased former spouse's covered earnings history; or a combination of both.
How Long Do You Receive Social Security Survivor Benefits? Social Security survivor benefits are payable to the surviving spouse for the remainder of their life. Restrictions apply for divorced spouses eligible to receive benefits.
No waiting period is required if you were previously entitled to disability benefits or to a period of disability under § 404.320 any time within 5 years of the month you again became disabled.