Social Security Benefits and Divorce

By Staff Writer

If you have been married for at least ten years or more and are in the process of going through a divorce, you or your estranged spouse may be entitled to share in the social security benefits of the other. In calculating your monthly benefit, the Social Security Administration may base your benefits on the earnings of your former spouse, and vice versa. This will only occur, however, if the marriage has lasted for at least ten years. In marriages of shorter duration, there is no such entitlement.

The general rule in determining if a party’s benefits will be based upon the earnings of his or her former spouse is that a party may receive the larger of his own benefit (based on his actual earnings) or 50% of the other party’s benefit. If, based on this comparison, a party will be receiving a benefit based upon the earnings of his former spouse, the maximum benefit will be 50% of the former spouse’s benefit. This does not effect the amount of the other party’s benefit. If your former spouse is receiving social security benefits based upon your earnings, the amount of your benefit will not be reduced. You will continue to receive full benefits based upon your earnings.

It you are entitled to receive social security benefits based on the earnings of your former spouse, you do not have to wait until your former spouse retires and begins collecting social security before you begin collecting your benefits. You are entitled to begin collecting as soon as you reach the earliest social security retirement age. Be aware, however, that, as with any party who takes advantage of early retirement, your benefit will be reduced if you do not wait until the normal social security retirement age. Similarly, if you remarry, you will forfeit your right to collect social security based on the earnings of your former spouse. If, however, your second marriage also ends in divorce, your rights to collect social security based upon the earnings of your first spouse may revert back to you.