3636 / 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.

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.

With divorced spouses, the continued earnings of a former spouse also does 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.

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.