[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/blog\/some-ex-spouses-can-receive-social-security-spousal-benefits-greenwich-ct-white-plains-ny\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/blog\/some-ex-spouses-can-receive-social-security-spousal-benefits-greenwich-ct-white-plains-ny\/","headline":"Some Ex-Spouses Can Receive Social Security Spousal Benefits","name":"Some Ex-Spouses Can Receive Social Security Spousal Benefits","description":"Benefits are available to ex-spouses, under certain circumstances. As retirement approaches and Social Security benefits become available, it is important for divorced people to be particularly aware of their entitlement rights, according to Yahoo! Finance in “3 Things to Know About Social Security if You\u2019re Divorced“. If you are divorced after 10 years of marriage […]","datePublished":"2019-03-19","dateModified":"2023-07-30","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/blog\/author\/amorusolaw\/#Person","name":"Amoruso & Amoruso LLP","url":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/blog\/author\/amorusolaw\/","identifier":5,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/12de032c04195e9c39a06a6d6eea182f7b4fa655c20e245f8094a244b5cdd0cb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/12de032c04195e9c39a06a6d6eea182f7b4fa655c20e245f8094a244b5cdd0cb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Amoruso & Amoruso LLP","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/amoruso-logo.svg","url":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/amoruso-logo.svg","width":0,"height":0}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/6a01901dd0a082970b0240a4957561.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/6a01901dd0a082970b0240a4957561.jpg","height":600,"width":395},"url":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/blog\/some-ex-spouses-can-receive-social-security-spousal-benefits-greenwich-ct-white-plains-ny\/","about":["Retirement Planning","Social Security","Spousal Benefits"],"wordCount":656,"keywords":["Retirement Planning","Social Security","Spousal Benefit"],"articleBody":"Benefits are available to ex-spouses, under certain circumstances.As retirement approaches and Social Security benefits become available, it is important for divorced people to be particularly aware of their entitlement rights, according to Yahoo! Finance in “3 Things to Know About Social Security if You\u2019re Divorced“.If you are divorced after 10 years of marriage and have not remarried, you may be eligible for spousal benefits from your ex-partner\u2019s work record. Your spouse has to be eligible for Social Security and must be at least 62 years old for you to be eligible.Bear in mind that many people elect not to start collecting benefits until long after they turn 62. There are good reasons for this. For every year that people delay taking their Social Security benefits from between age 62\u201370, they will receive roughly 8% more in their monthly check. If you expect to live a long time, the longer you can delay claiming benefits, the better.Full Retirement Age (FRA) has changed, and now you won\u2019t reach FRA, until sometime between the ages of 65 (if you were born in 1937 or before then) to 67 (for anyone born in 1960 and later).Remember, it doesn\u2019t matter if your ex has begun taking Social Security benefits \u2014 just whether they are eligible to do so. Your ex-spouse\u2019s marital status doesn\u2019t matter either. They might be remarried, divorced, widowed, etc. That doesn\u2019t have any bearing on your ability to file a claim, or the amount of the claim. Your claim won\u2019t have any impact on your ex\u2019s benefits or their new married partner\u2019s benefits.What does matter: if your ex has not yet applied for Social Security benefits, there is a requirement that you need to have been divorced for at least two years, before you can receive the spousal benefit.Here are three key things you need to know about filing for Social Security if you\u2019re divorced:If you\u2019ve remarried, you can\u2019t claim benefits on an ex-spouse\u2019s Social Security. If you remarried and then divorced again, you can claim spousal benefits, as long as the second marriage lasted ten years.To claim spousal benefits, you must be 62 or older.You must also be entitled to a benefit that is smaller than your ex\u2019s work would qualify you to receive.How can you find out what your benefits would be, and what your spousal benefits would be? To receive Social Security, you need a work history that earns a total of 40 lifetime work credits. This is based on income and time. Four work credits are the most you can earn in one year, even if you are earning millions. Once you qualify, an earnings history kicks in to determine the amount you are entitled to. The benefits are calculated on the 35 highest-income, inflation-adjusted years. If you\u2019ve worked fewer than 35 years, $0 is averaged into the monthly payout calculation for every year under the 35 years.Spousal benefits are determined by computing your work and earnings history and your ex\u2019s work history and salary history. If you are qualified for a spousal benefit, the benefit is 50% of your ex\u2019s FRA, if you began taking benefits at your FRA. Let\u2019s say your ex is eligible for $2,000 a month in Social Security benefits. You\u2019d get $1,000. If your ex delays receiving Social Security benefits past their FRA, the increasing amount is not applied to your spousal benefit.If you have a healthy work and earnings history of your own, the Social Security Administration will pay your own retirement first, and then compute your potential benefit from your ex\u2019s work and earnings history. With that information, the SSA will adjust the benefit to ensure that you receive the higher amount.Reference: Yahoo! Finance (Feb. 16, 2019) “3 Things to Know About Social Security if You\u2019re Divorced”For more information on elder law, retirement planning and estate planning, please visit my estate planning website"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/blog\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Some Ex-Spouses Can Receive Social Security Spousal Benefits","item":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/blog\/some-ex-spouses-can-receive-social-security-spousal-benefits-greenwich-ct-white-plains-ny\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]