Divorced Spouses Maximize Social Security Benefits By Navigating Some Tricky Rules

There’s no such factor as “divorce advantages” in Social Safety, however divorced spouses usually are eligible to obtain advantages based mostly on an ex-spouse’s earnings file.

Ex-spouses usually high quality to obtain Social Safety spousal advantages, and on pretty liberal phrases. Divorced spouses typically have higher choices and extra flexibility than present spouses.

However small variations in timing can depart a divorced partner with out advantages, or with decrease advantages than could be obtainable with totally different timing.

Social Safety spousal advantages could be collected on the earnings file of a former partner when the wedding lasted not less than 10 years, the couple has been divorced not less than two years (usually), and the ex-spouse claiming the advantages nonetheless is single (usually). As well as, each ex-spouses should be not less than age 62.

When the {qualifications} are met, a divorced particular person could independently declare advantages on the earnings historical past of the opposite former partner.

It doesn’t matter whether or not the previous partner whose earnings historical past is the idea of the declare is already receiving retirement advantages. The ex-spouse whose earnings are the idea of the declare isn’t consulted, could be remarried, and isn’t knowledgeable that the previous partner is claiming advantages.

The spousal advantages drawn by an ex-spouse don’t have an effect on the quantity of the advantages paid to the employee or any present partner of the employee. Which means three or extra folks can declare advantages based mostly on the identical employee’s earnings file.

A divorced partner can declare the upper of both his or her earned retirement advantages or spousal advantages based mostly on the opposite ex-spouse’s earnings file.

To maintain it easy, let’s say the previous spouse is contemplating claiming spousal advantages on the earnings file of the ex-husband.

The spousal profit for the ex-wife is 50% of the ex-husband’s full retirement age profit, if the ex-wife doesn’t declare the advantages till not less than her full retirement age. The quantity of the spousal advantages doesn’t range with the ex-husband’s age, so long as he’s not less than 62.

However the ex-wife’s spousal profit will likely be decreased if she claims the spousal advantages earlier than her full retirement age. Actually, the speed of discount for claiming spousal advantages earlier than full retirement age is larger than for claiming one’s personal retirement advantages early.

The spousal profit is decreased by 8.33 % yearly for the primary three years advantages are claimed early (that’s 25/36 of 1 % for every of the primary 36 months) and 5 % for every further yr (that’s 5/12 of 1 % for every further month). A divorced partner who claims the spousal profit at age 62, could have the profit decreased by 30 % whereas a retirement profit claimed at 62 is decreased by solely about 25 % from the complete retirement age profit.

An ex-spouse doesn’t obtain a rise in advantages by ready to say spousal advantages after his or her full retirement age. There’s additionally no benefit to ready till the opposite ex-spouse claims retirement advantages, even when that declare received’t happen till age 70. In all circumstances, the spousal advantages to an ex-spouse are maximized at one-half the opposite partner’s full retirement age profit when the ex-spouse claiming the advantages reaches his or her full retirement age. There’s no enhance for claiming after both partner is older than full retirement age.

When the two-year divorce requirement hasn’t been met, a former partner nonetheless can gather spousal advantages on the earnings historical past of the opposite ex-spouse if the opposite ex-spouse has filed to say his or her retirement advantages.

To say advantages on the earnings historical past of an ex-spouse, you’ll be able to’t be remarried on the time the declare is filed. It doesn’t matter what age you’re, how lengthy you have been married, or how lengthy you’ve been divorced. When you remarried, and nonetheless are remarried, you’ll be able to’t declare advantages on the earnings historical past of an ex-spouse. You possibly can declare advantages solely by yourself earnings file or that of your present partner.

This remarriage rule for ex-spouses is totally different from the principles for survivor’s advantages and so is a supply of confusion.

The remarriage rule can discourage some older {couples} from marrying and in some circumstances can encourage a married couple to divorce.

An attention-grabbing twist is that you simply solely need to be single on the time you file for spousal advantages. Suppose you divorce partner #1, after which marry partner #2. You then divorce partner #2. You’re now eligible to obtain spousal advantages based mostly on the earnings historical past of partner #1, offered the 2 of you have been married greater than 10 years and divorced greater than two years, since you’re presently single.

Underneath the Social Safety guidelines, once you file for any profit (apart from survivor’s advantages) you’re deemed to have filed for all advantages for which you’re eligible. The Social Safety Administration will compute all the advantages and pay you the best, offered it has full details about all of your ex-spouses.

An ex-spouse can also declare survivor’s advantages as if the couple have been nonetheless married on the time the opposite partner handed away. The surviving ex-spouse additionally has the appropriate over time to modify from survivor’s advantages to retirement advantages, or vice versa.