Social Security Benefits Do Not End With Divorce
Q: Could you discuss Social Security benefits for divorced couples? For example, can a divorced spouse who has never worked claim Social Security benefits based on the record of the spouse who has worked the requisite time? What happens if the “working” spouse remarries? Can his new spouse, who also has never worked, also claim Social Security benefits?
A: A divorced spouse will be able to collect retirement benefits from Social Security based on the work record of a former spouse with no effect upon the latter’s retirement benefit or his or her current spouse, if remarried. In fact, a person will not even been notified by the Social Security Administration if a retirement benefit based on that person’s earnings record is collected by a former spouse.
According to an SSA spokesman, typically, a divorced spouse who has never been employed can claim Social Security based on a “working” former spouse’s record. If the divorced spouse wishes to collect on that record, the working spouse must be at least age 52, and either be collecting, or be eligible to collect, retirement benefits from Social Security. The divorced spouse is also required to be at least 62-years-old and unmarried.
Another important requirement is that a couple’s marriage must have lasted for at least 10 years before the divorce is finalized for the divorced spouse to receive retirement benefits based on the working spouse’s work record.
The size of the benefit the divorced spouse will receive depends upon the age at which he or she first files to receive benefits, in addition to the size of the benefit of the working spouse at his or her full retirement age.
The divorced spouse is also eligible to receive widow’s benefits upon the death of the working spouse (referred to as “divorced survivor benefits” by the SSA).
Original Source: Wall Street Journal Online
