Hello,I've been married 3 times, my 2nd ex-husband was 10 yrs and 6 months,which he is deceased now,which he was drawing his disability. My 3rd ex-husband I was married 14 years,he is presently drawing his disability. My question is,I'm presently 58, divorced,but I've been told I can draw widow survival benefits from my second ex husband at age 60.. I presently work,but I plan on retiring when I'm 60 to draw my widow benefits.. is this possible?? I've been told from a.friend I can't since I remarried after my 2nd ex,but I'm now divorced. Thank you.

Hi. Yes, it's possible for you to claim survivor benefits on your second husband's account at age 60. The fact that you remarried and divorced after that wouldn't prevent you from qualifying for benefits on the record of a former spouse. There is a limit on how much you can earn and still collect benefits prior to full retirement age (FRA), but that wouldn't be a problem if you stop working.

However, it may not be wise to claim benefits at age 60 on your deceased ex-husband's account at age 60, especially if your survivor rate on that spouse's record would be higher than what you could potentially collect on your own account or on the account of one of your other ex-spouses. If you claim survivor benefits at age 60, your survivor rate will be reduced to 71.5% of your deceased ex's primary insurance amount (PIA). And, unless you later become eligible for a higher benefit rate on your own account or on the account of one of your other spouses, you'll be stuck with that reduced rate for as long as you live.

Your best strategy for claiming benefits depends on multiple different variables, so you should strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze all of your options so that you can determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry