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divorced survivor benefits

Q&A: Three marriages, but only one Social Security benefit

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Dear Liz: I was married for 10 years before divorcing. My second marriage also ended in divorce. I married for the third time and was widowed. I am collecting a survivor benefit. Am I also entitled to receive a benefit from my first marriage of 10 years? My first husband is still living.

Answer: Social Security is basically “either/or,” not “and.” If you qualify for two benefits, you typically get the larger check — not both.

Since you are currently unmarried, your ex is still living and your first marriage lasted 10 years, you may be eligible for a divorced spousal benefit. That can be up to 50% of your first husband’s benefit at his full retirement age.

You would only receive that benefit, however, if it were larger than the survivor benefit you’re currently receiving. Survivor benefits are up to 100% of the late worker’s check, so your first divorced spousal benefit would have to be substantially larger than what your late husband received to make a switch. You can call Social Security at (800) 772-1213 to inquire.

Q&A: Calculating Social Security benefits when a lengthy marriage ends

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Dear Liz: I was married for 18 years before filing for a divorce. I am 71 and my husband is 76 and still working full time. He waited until he was 70 to collect his Social Security. Social Security told me to wait to file until he did to collect the maximum amount. I did, and then they told me that 50% of his benefit is less than my own benefit. Therefore I do not qualify to get benefits as a divorced spouse. I only get $1,200 a month. I made about $30,000 a year while he made six figures. I do not understand Social Security. I am barely getting by.

Answer: You got some bad information. Divorced spousal benefits, like spousal benefits for those who are still married, are based on the primary worker’s benefit at full retirement age. Spousal and divorced spousal benefits aren’t eligible for the delayed retirement credits that increase workers’ benefits when they delay applying for Social Security after full retirement age. In other words, you couldn’t benefit from your ex’s delayed start.

Like other retirement benefits, however, spousal and divorced spousal benefits are reduced if the applicant starts benefits before their own retirement age. If you applied at 65 and your full retirement age was 66, for example, you wouldn’t have qualified for the maximum divorced spousal benefit. Your own retirement benefit was reduced as well. If you’d been able to wait until after full retirement age to apply, your own benefit could have been increased by 8% for every year you waited until age 70.

It may seem odd that your benefit is still greater than what you could have received from his record, given the disparity in your incomes. But Social Security is designed to replace a bigger chunk of lower-paid workers’ incomes compared with higher-paid ones, on the assumption that lower-paid workers have a harder time saving for retirement. His income may have been four times larger than yours in recent years, but his Social Security benefit wouldn’t be four times bigger, or even twice as large.

What’s done is done, of course, but there may be a larger benefit in your future. If he dies before you do, then you would be eligible for a divorced spousal benefit, which would be 100% of his benefit (the one he’s getting when he dies, complete with delayed retirement credits and cost-of-living increases).

Is your ex alive? It matters when calculating these Social Security benefits

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Dear Liz: You say that people can receive divorced survivor benefits while remarried but only if they married at 60 or later. I am 75 and getting married soon. I hoped to continue to receive my deceased ex-husband’s benefits. We were married for 30 years. When I finally connected with an actual live person in the Social Security office, I was told that is incorrect and I will lose his benefits.

Answer: Social Security rules for spousal and survivor benefits are complicated. Divorce adds another layer of complexity. It’s understandable that many people get confused, but you’d hope the Social Security reps could get this right.

Divorced spousal benefits — the benefits someone gets from an ex’s work record while the ex is still alive — are what end when someone remarries. If your ex is dead and you receive divorced survivor benefits, you can continue receiving those if you remarry at 60 or later.

Q&A: How late-in-life divorce could affect Social Security benefits

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Dear Liz: I’m a CPA and getting conflicting answers from the Social Security office about a case I’m working on. Both clients are 70 and they’re considering legal separation or divorce. She took Social Security at 62 and receives about $1,500 a month before deductions. He started Social Security at 70 and receives about $4,600. How would her Social Security change at his death or their divorce, if she doesn’t remarry?

Answer: Based on the amounts involved, both parties are receiving their own retirement benefits and those aren’t affected by divorce, said William Reichenstein, a principal at Social Security Solutions, a claiming strategy site. (If the wife were receiving spousal benefits, those would continue after divorce as long as the marriage lasted at least 10 years and she did not remarry.)

If the husband dies and they haven’t divorced, the wife would be entitled to survivor benefits equal to his full monthly benefit amount ($4,600, plus any future cost of living increases). If they divorce and the marriage lasted at least 10 years, she also would be entitled to his full amount. Remarriage wouldn’t affect her divorced survivor benefit since she’s over 60, Reichenstein said.

Q&A: Waiting to apply for retirement benefit or not

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Dear Liz: I am recently divorced but was married for 20 years. My ex is 12 years older and he waited until 70 to start collecting Social Security benefits. I am 62 and self-employed. My retirement benefit is greater than half of his (but not by much). It is my understanding that after his death I can collect his full benefit, provided I am at least 67 when I apply, even if I start taking my own benefit now at 62. Is that correct?

Answer: Yes, but he could live a long time. Starting your own benefit now means you’ll get much smaller checks for years, perhaps even decades, compared with what you’d get by waiting. Plus, any benefit you take before your full retirement age would be subject to the earnings test, with $1 withheld for every $2 you make over a certain amount ($22,320 in 2024).

You may not have much choice, but if you do, waiting to apply is usually the best option.

Q&A: Can someone who has remarried claim survivor benefits from a deceased former husband?

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Dear Liz: Can someone who has remarried claim survivor benefits from a deceased former husband?

Answer: Possibly, if the marriage lasted at least 10 years, the divorce occurred at least two years ago and she remarried at age 60 or later.

Divorced survivor benefits can be up to 100% of the former husband’s benefit. The amount would be reduced if the ex-wife applies before her own full retirement age, which is currently between 66 and 67. (Survivor benefits could be further reduced or even eliminated if the ex-wife receives a pension from a job that didn’t pay into Social Security, under the “government pension offset” rules.) If the ex-wife has earned a Social Security benefit of her own, she would get the larger of the two checks rather than both amounts.

The rules for divorced survivor benefits are different from those for divorced spousal benefits. Divorced spousal benefits may be available while the ex-husband is still alive, but only if the ex-wife hasn’t remarried. Also, divorced spousal benefits max out at 50% of the ex-husband’s benefit.