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can ex spouse collect social security benefits

by Dr. Vaughn Nitzsche DVM Published 2 years ago Updated 1 year ago
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Your ex-spouse is entitled to collect Social Security retirement or disability benefits. Your former spouse doesn't have to be collecting his or her retirement benefits yet for you to claim ex-spousal benefits. However, if this is the case, the divorce must be at least two years old.

Benefits For Your Divorced Spouse
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.

Full Answer

Can ex wife collect her ex husbands social security?

In general, a divorced spouse is entitled to a Social Security benefit that’s equivalent to 50% of the ex-spouse’s retirement benefit even if the ex-spouse has remarried. If the spouse is deceased, the former partner may be eligible for a survivor’s benefit of up to 100% of that amount. In either case, the divorced spouse must have reached full retirement age in order to receive the full (50% or 100%) benefit.

Can Your Ex take Your Social Security after divorce?

Social Security allows you to claim benefits on an ex-spouse's record if your marriage lasted 10 years and you've been divorced for two years. The maximum spousal benefit your ex can claim is 50% of your full retirement age benefit. If you're divorced, you may have heard that your ex-spouse can take your Social Security.

Will I get my ex-husband's social security when he dies?

A: Yes, your spousal Social Security benefits you currently receive will convert to survivor benefits at the time of your ex-husband's death, according to David Cechanowicz, director of education at Social Security Timing.

Can an ex spouse garnish Social Security income?

Social Security and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) can sometimes be garnished to pay certain government debts, such as back taxes or federal student loans, and debts for child or spousal support. Some benefits, such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI), are protected from garnishment – even to pay a government debt or child or ...

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Can a divorced woman collect her ex husband's Social Security?

Social Security Benefits for Divorced Women Thus, divorced women receive Social Security benefits either as retired workers, divorced spouses, or surviving divorced spouses. They can also receive widow benefits from a prior marriage that ended in widowhood.

How much Social Security can a divorced spouse get?

The most you can collect in divorced-spouse benefits is 50 percent of your former mate's primary insurance amount — the monthly payment he or she is entitled to at full retirement age, which is 66 and 4 months for people born in 1956 and is rising incrementally to 67 over the next several years.

When can my ex wife collect my Social Security?

To be eligible, you must have been married to your ex-spouse for 10 years or more. If you have since remarried, you can't collect benefits on your former spouse's record unless your later marriage ended by annulment, divorce, or death.

Can I stop my ex wife from getting my Social Security?

There's nothing anyone can do to prevent their ex from claiming their Social Security. Even though some divorce decrees specify that one spouse will relinquish their rights to collect the other spouse's benefits, the Social Security Administration says these provisions “are worthless and are never enforced.”

Can I collect ex spousal benefits and wait until I am 70 to collect my own Social Security?

You can only collect spousal benefits and wait until 70 to claim your retirement benefit if both of the following are true: You were born before Jan. 2, 1954. Your spouse is collecting his or her own Social Security retirement benefit.

Can you collect 1/2 of spouse's Social Security and then your full amount?

Your full spouse's benefit could be up to one-half the amount your spouse is entitled to receive at their full retirement age. If you choose to begin receiving spouse's benefits before you reach full retirement age, your benefit amount will be permanently reduced.

Can you receive your own retirement at age 70?

That way, you receive only the ex-spousal benefit. You can let your own benefit amount continue racking up delayed retirement credits until you reach age 70. When you reach age 70, you can switch to your own benefit amount if that's larger than the ex-spousal amount.

Does your ex spouse get benefits based on your record?

If you collect benefits based on your ex-spouse's record, it does not reduce the amount your ex-spouse receives. It also does not impact their current spouse, if they have one. And if your ex-spouse has one or more other ex-spouses who have also not remarried, that will not reduce your benefits.

How much is ex spouse's insurance?

Wherever you live, ex-spousal benefits range from 32.9 percent to 50 percent of your former mate's primary insurance amount, meaning the monthly benefit he or she is entitled to at full retirement age (currently 66 and 2 months and gradually rising to 67). The percentage depends on your age when you claim them.

How long do you have to be divorced to get Social Security?

If your ex is eligible for Social Security but has not yet claimed his or her benefits, you must meet an additional standard: You have to have been divorced for at least two years.

How old do you have to be to get divorced?

In these cases, the basic criteria to get divorced-spouse benefits are the same as for a U.S. citizen: You are at least 62 years old. You have not remarried. The marriage lasted at least 10 years. Your former spouse qualifies for Social Security retirement or disability benefits. If your ex is eligible for Social Security ...

Can a non-citizen collect unemployment benefits?

Yes, noncitizens may be able to collect benefits on the earnings record of a divorced spouse. The eligibility rules can differ depending on whether the person claiming benefits lives in the United States.

How much of my ex's Social Security benefits are used?

If your own benefit is less than 50% of your ex's, Social Security uses your benefit and then taps your former spouse's record to make up the difference. You can contact your local Social Security office to find out how much you could get based on their record.

What happens if you claim Social Security at 62?

Keep in mind that if you claim Social Security at 62, you'll reduce your monthly benefit no matter whose earnings it's based on. To get the maximum payment -- 50% of theirs or 100% of your own -- you'll have to wait until you've reached your FRA. Claim before that and you'll get less than half their benefit.

How long do you have to be married to get unemployment?

You'll only qualify for benefits based on an ex-spouse's record if your marriage lasted 10 years and you've been divorced for at least two consecutive years. Beyond the two-year requirement, it doesn't matter how long ago the marriage ended. Even if you've been divorced for decades, you can use their record if you meet the other criteria.

How old do you have to be to claim Social Security?

Both of you must be at least 62. To claim on behalf of an ex-spouse, he or she needs to be eligible for Social Security. That means they must be at least 62 and have at least 40 work credits, which translates to 10 years of full-time work. You also need to be at least 62, regardless of whose record you're using.

Can you claim on your ex-spouse's record?

You, of course, can only claim on the record of your most recent ex-spouse.

Can you double dip Social Security?

Social Security doesn't allow for double dipping. Essentially, you'll get whichever is higher -- 100% of your own retirement benefit or 50% of their benefit, but not both. If the amount you qualify for based on your own work record is more than what you'd get from 50% of your former spouse's full retirement, Social Security gives you your benefit, ...

Divorce and Social Security Spousal Benefits

If you are divorced, you must have been married for at least 10 years to be eligible for a spousal benefit through your ex-spouse. In addition, you’ll need to have been divorced for at least two years and be currently unmarried. “Both you and your ex-spouse must be at least 62.

Eligibility Requirements for Divorced Spouses

Before you can receive benefits on your ex-husband’s Social Security work record, you must meet all of the following spousal-benefit eligibility requirements: • your ex is entitled to Social Security retirement benefits • your marriage lasted at least 10 years • you are unmarried • you’re at least 62 years old, and • the benefit you’re entitled to on your own work record is less than the benefit you’d receive on your ex’s record. If your ex-husband hasn’t applied for benefits yet, but qualifies for them and is age 62 or older, you can receive benefits on his record if you’ve been divorced from him for at least two years and meet all of the requirements listed above..

Eligibility When Your Ex-Spouse is Deceased

If your ex-husband dies, you may receive benefits on his record, as long as your marriage lasted for at least 10 years.

Types of Social Security Benefits

There are four basic types of benefits based on the person receiving them. The types are retirement, disability, survivors and supplemental benefits.

Retirement Benefits

Retirement benefits are what typically come to mind when most people think of Social Security. Such benefits are available for people 62 or older who have worked at least 10 years. Your benefit amount will vary based on your pre-retirement salary as well as the age at which you begin collecting benefits.

Disability Benefits

Disability benefits support people who cannot work because of disabilities. As with retirement benefits, you need to have worked a certain number of years to be eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. The amount of work you need depends on your age, and your monthly benefit amount depends on your pre-disability salary.

Survivors Benefits

Survivors’ benefits can help bridge financial gaps for survivors of workers and retirees. Eligible recipients typically include help for widows and widowers, divorced spouses and children.

How much is spousal benefit?

The spousal benefit can be as much as half of the worker's " primary insurance amount ," depending on the spouse's age at retirement. If the spouse begins receiving benefits before " normal (or full) retirement age ," the spouse will receive a reduced benefit. However, if a spouse is caring for a qualifying child, the spousal benefit is not reduced.

What is the reduction factor for spousal benefits?

For a spouse who is not entitled to benefits on his or her own earnings record, this reduction factor is applied to the base spousal benefit, which is 50 percent of the worker's primary insurance amount. For example, if the worker's primary insurance amount is $1,600 and the worker's spouse chooses to begin receiving benefits 36 months ...

What age do you have to be to file for retirement?

Another requirement is that the spouse must be at least age 62 or have a qualifying child in her/his care.

Can a spouse reduce their spousal benefit?

However, if a spouse is caring for a qualifying child, the spousal benefit is not reduced. If a spouse is eligible for a retirement benefit based on his or her own earnings, and if that benefit is higher than the spousal benefit, then we pay the retirement benefit. Otherwise we pay the spousal benefit. Compute the effect of early retirement ...

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Who Is Eligible?

Social Security Benefits

  • The maximum amount of Social Security benefits you can receive based on an ex-spouse's record is 50% of what your ex-spouse would get at their full retirement age. This varies based on their year of birth. The spousal benefit amount is further decreased if you file before you reach your own full retirement age.3 If you have an idea of what your ex-...
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Survivors Benefits Explained

  • If your ex-spouse has died, you may collect survivor's benefits. These follow different rules than those for a living ex-spouse. You can apply for benefits as early as age 60. If you remarry after you reach age 60, or age 50 if you are disabled, you will still be able to claim these benefits. If you are disabled, and your ex-spouse has died, you can begin receiving survivors benefits if you're betwe…
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What About Unmarried Children?

  • An unmarried child of the deceased may be able to receive benefits if one of the following applies: 1. They are younger than 18 years of age; or, they are up to age 19, if they are a full-time student in an elementary or secondary school. 2. They are age 18 or older with a disability that began before the age of 22.8
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