Did you know there are specific rules governing the impact of divorce on the receipt of Social Security benefit? Even though you are divorced, you may be entitled to collect Social Security retirement benefits on your former spouse’s Social Security earnings record if you satisfy the following requirements: (1) you must have been married to that former spouse for at least ten years prior to your divorce, (2) you are at least sixty-two years old, (3) you are currently unmarried, and (4) you are not eligible for an equal or higher benefit on your own Social Security earnings record or on someone else’s Social Security earnings record. If you receive retirement benefits on your former spouse’s Social Security earnings record, the amount of benefits you get will have no effect on the amount of benefits your former spouse and/or his or her current spouse receive.
Remarriage before the age of sixty generally precludes you from collecting retirement benefits based on your former spouse’s Social Security earnings record unless your subsequent marriage ends as a result of divorce, annulment, or death. You may be entitled to collect retirement benefits on your former spouse’s Social Security earnings record if your remarriage occurred after your sixtieth birthday.
Divorce does not necessarily preclude you from receiving survivor’s benefits if your former spouse dies. You may be entitled to receive such benefits if the marriage lasted ten years or more. If you are at least sixty years old, the survivor’s benefits you receive will not affect the amount of benefits to which other survivors may be entitled. In the event that you receive survivor’s benefits, you are entitled to receive retirement benefits as early as age sixty-two if you are eligible for such benefits and the amount of retirement benefits you are eligible for is in excess of the survivor’s benefits you are currently collecting.
This is a brief summary of the rules pertaining to the impact of divorce on your ability to collect Social Security benefits on your former spouse’s earnings record and is in no way a complete explanation of this topic. For more information and for the specific rules pertaining to your situation, please contact the Social Security Administration at (800) 772-1213 or online at www.socialsecurity.gov/retire2/divspouse.htm