I am inquiring about spousal divorce benefits. I was married 23 years. I do not have 40 quarters of Social Security. My job provides a pension in liu of SS.
I read I qualify at age 62. I went to SS office last year and they said i did not qualify for benefits. They did not explain why.
Would my salary have to do with not qualifying? Which is above 70K? Or is it because I do not have 40 quarters.

Thanks so much for any information you can provide.
Sincerely,
Tula

Hi Tula,

I don't know all of the circumstances of your case, but your ex must also be at least age 62 or receiving disability benefits in order for you to qualify for divorced spousal benefits (https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.03/handbook-0311.html).

Even if you qualify, though, if you are earning $70K per year it's unlikely that you could receive any divorced spousal benefits until at least the year you reach full retirement age (FRA). This is due to the Social Security earnings test, which results in withholding of $1 in benefits for each $2 that a person under FRA earns in excess of $16,920 this year (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/whileworking2.html).

You mention that you expect to receive a pension from your job at which you are exempt from Social Security taxes. If that's a government job (e.g. federal, state, county, municipal), receipt of your pension could also result in an offset of your divorced spousal benefits. For more information on the Government Pension Offset (GPO) provision, refer to Social Security's website: https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10007.pdf.

Best, Jerry