Divorced!! How Do I File For
My Ex-Husband’s Social Security Check??
Hello Toni:
About 10 years ago, I was divorced after 25 years of marriage. I was the stay-at-home mom with 4 kids while my husband worked each day and grew his company to over 60 employees.
Now that the kids have grown, I am not receiving child or spousal support and I need help making ends meet. A friend suggested that I could receive my ex’s Social Security benefits.
I would like to know how to do that. What happens if I get a job, can I still receive his Social Security. Can you please explain this in simple terms for me?
~ Thanks, Terry from Dallas, TX
Oh, Terry:
Everyone wants to receive their Social Security check when they are having a hard time financially, but no one ever thinks about claiming on the ex-spouse’s Social Security check and letting their own Social Security check grow for a later date.
The maximum amount of Social Security benefits one can receive on an ex-spouse’s record is 50% of what your ex-spouse would get at their full retirement age (FRA). FRA between 1943 through 1954 is 66. For other years past 1954, visit Social Security to find the year for your FRA.
Below are the rules for qualifying for your Divorced Spouse’s Social Security Benefits:
- Your divorced spouse must have worked 10 years and paid Social Security (FICA) taxes from his paychecks.
- Your marriage must have lasted at least 10 years.
- You must be at least 62 to file for benefits, but these Social Security benefits will be reduced.
- You must be unmarried when you file. If you remarry, then your benefits from the ex-spouse will stop.
- Your ex-spouse does not have to file for their own social security benefits for you to be eligible to receive a benefit based on their record.
- Your relationship to your ex-spouse must be documented. You will have to provide originals not copies of marriage license, divorce decree and even death certificate if your ex-spouse has passed.
Many ex-spouses file for the 50% divorced spouse benefit and delay claiming their own. Each year past your FRA (full retirement age) that you postpone taking your own benefit, the government pays you an 8% bonus called the “Delayed Retirement Credit” (DRC).
If your FRA is age 66 and you wait until you reach 70 to begin your own Social Security, then your benefits have been increased by 32% and can also earn the annual Cost-of-Living increases that the Social Security benefits have received.
You can estimate approximately what your ex-spouse earned and with their date of birth, you can use the Social Security calculator at Social Security Calculator to estimate their approximate benefit.
Terry…your second question is about what happens if you begin drawing your ex-spouses Social Security benefits and you go back to work.
Here is how that story goes… it depends on your age when you are working. Once you have attained your FRA, then you can earn as much as you like. However, if you are collecting Social Security income before your FRA, Social Security applies the earnings test. If your annual income from wages is more than $15,720 annually in 2015, then your Social Security income is reduced by $1 for every $2 that your wage income exceeds $15,720 annually.
Once your FRA begins, then the earnings test ends. Social Security and Medicare rules are very confusing and understanding them is the key!! The IRS and Social Security talk to each other about what your income is.
Toni King, author of the Medicare Survival Guide®, is on sale on Our Website. The “Confused about Medicare Workshops” are taking a summer vacation and will return in August. Personal consultations are available by contacting Toni at Ask Toni or call 832/519-8664.
