A divorce settlement typically splits assets like a home, bank accounts and retirement savings. This can make it seem like your financial ties to a former spouse have been cut, but under certain circumstances you may still be eligible to claim Social Security benefits based on their work record. Here’s an example of how a divorced spouse could qualify for benefits and what that might look like years after the marriage ended.
Who Qualifies for Benefits on an Ex-Spouse’s Record
Social Security lets some divorced people collect benefits based on a former spouse’s earnings, as long as they meet a few basic rules. Your marriage must have lasted 10 years or longer, and you need to be unmarried and at least 62. 1 Your own benefit at full retirement age (FRA) also has to be less than the amount you’d receive on your ex’s record.
A former spouse generally must be collecting retirement or disability benefits for you to claim. After two consecutive years of divorce, you might be able to apply without waiting for your ex to file. They must be at least 62 and eligible. Claiming benefits on your ex’s record won’t lower their Social Security payments. If your ex has remarried, it won’t lower their new spouse’s benefits either. The table breaks down the main rules for divorced-spouse benefits:
| Rule | What It Means for You |
|---|---|
| Length of marriage | The marriage must have lasted a minimum of 10 years before the divorce was final |
| Your marital status | You must be unmarried when you claim |
| Your age | You must be at least 62, and your benefit can increase the longer you wait to claim, up to your FRA |
| Your ex’s status | Your ex must be receiving benefits, or be at least 62 and eligible if you’ve been divorced for two consecutive years |
| Your own benefit | Your own full retirement benefit must be lower than the divorced-spouse benefit |
| Maximum amount | Up to 50% of your ex’s full retirement benefit if you claim at your full retirement age |
| Caring for your ex’s child | Different rules may apply if you are caring for your ex’s qualifying child who receives benefits on your ex’s record |
| Working while collecting | Payments may be temporarily reduced if you earn above the annual limit before FRA |
The maximum benefit is based on what your ex would receive at their FRA, even if the actual monthly check is smaller or bigger depending on when they claimed. Taking benefits before your own FRA permanently reduces the payment, so waiting can increase both your own benefit and the amount added from your ex’s record. 2
Remarrying generally ends your eligibility for benefits on a living ex’s record, though you may qualify again if the subsequent marriage ends. After an ex spouse dies, survivor benefits follow separate rules, including different provisions for remarriage. A financial advisor can help you estimate how much Social Security income remarrying could cost you and plan ways to replace it.
What a Divorced Spouse May Collect Years Later
Let’s take a look at an example of someone who was married for 15 years and then divorced a decade before reaching full retirement at 67. Assuming that you meet Social Security’s other requirements, you may qualify for half of your ex’s FRA benefit. In this example, you would get $1,500 if their FRA benefit is $3,000.
If your full retirement benefit is lower, Social Security would pay your own benefit first and then add a supplement from your ex’s record. In this case, getting a $1,000 monthly benefit at 67, would leave a $500 supplement from your ex’s record.
Both of those amounts would be smaller if you claim earlier. As a comparison, filing at 62 would drop your own benefit to $700 ($1,000 × 70%) and the supplement to $325 ($500 × 65%). Those percentages reflect how Social Security reduces each benefit for collecting five years early. 3 The table compares three claiming ages up to 85:
| Claiming Age | Your Own Benefit | Supplement From Ex’s Record | Monthly Total | Total Received by Age 85 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 62 | $700 (30% less) | $325 (35% less) | $1,025 (31.7% less) | $282,900 (12.7% less) |
| 64 | $800 (20% less) | $375 (25% less) | $1,175 (21.7% less) | $296,100 (8.6% less) |
| 67 | $1,000 | $500 | $1,500 | $324,000 |
The percentages in parentheses show how much lower each amount is than the same amount at 67. This example excludes cost-of-living adjustments, taxes and Medicare premiums. Waiting until 67 would pay $475 more each month than filing at 62 ($1,500 − $1,025), and $41,100 more by age 85 ($324,000 − $282,900).
Two Things That Could Change What You Collect After a Divorce
If your divorce settlement awarded part of your ex’s 401(k) or another qualified retirement plan, the plan typically pays it through a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO). You can withdraw QDRO money from a 401(k) before 59 ½ without the 10% early withdrawal penalty, though income tax still applies. 4 That exception ends if you roll the funds into an IRA first.
Your ex’s death can also raise your Social Security check. As a surviving divorced spouse, you could receive up to 100% of the benefit available on your ex’s record at your survivor FRA. 5 Unlike benefits on a living ex’s record, this larger survivor payment stays available even if you remarry after 60.
A financial advisor can help you decide whether to draw from a QDRO payout first and delay Social Security, or file early and preserve savings for later.
Photo credit: ©iStock.com/NataBene
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