9150 / How are Social Security benefits impacted by divorce?

If two individuals divorce, but have been married for at least 10 years, a divorced spouse can continue to receive benefits based on his or her ex-spouse’s earnings record, even if that ex-spouse has remarried, in the following situations:

• The individual is unmarried,


• The individual is age 62 or older,


• The ex-spouse is entitled to Social Security or disability benefits, and


• The benefit the individual is entitled to receive based on his or her own earnings record is less than the benefit the individual would receive based on the ex-spouse’s working record.

The benefit received as a divorced spouse is generally equal to half of the ex-spouse’s full retirement amount if the individual begins to receive benefits at full retirement age. The individual’s benefit based on the ex-spouse’s record does not include delayed retirement credits that the ex-spouse may receive.

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Planning Point: Even if the ex-spouse has not yet claimed benefits, but would qualify to do so, a divorced spouse can claim benefits based on that ex-spouse’s earnings record if they have been divorced for at least two years.

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With divorced spouses, the continued earnings of a former spouse also do not impact the ability of the other ex-spouse to claim benefits based on that working ex-spouse’s earnings record. Further, a divorced spouse’s claim to Social Security benefits based upon the earnings record of his or her ex-spouse does not impact the Social Security benefits that the ex-spouse and his or her current spouse are entitled to receive.

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Planning Point: The file and suspend strategy may still be available for divorced spouses who have reached full retirement age if they were born before January 2, 1954.

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