I got devoriced 5 t's ago and have a handicap son he is22. I was marred to his father 18 days short if 10 yrs. I will be 62 in 3 yrs. Same time our son will be out of school . I dont know what i do when hes home allday.also find myself getting extremely exhausted by end of the day taking care of him on the weekends.his father has nothing to do with him.he does pay alamoney. Is there any way of getting his ssi even short 18 day. With a handicap son.?

Hi,

You must have been married for at least 10 years in order to be eligible for divorced spousal benefits. In some cases there are waiting periods before a divorce becomes legally final, but I don't know if something like that might be involved in your case. For a state by state history of divorce laws, refer to this section of Social Security's operations manual: https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0200305165.

Your son may qualify for disabled adult child's benefits on his father's record if his impairment(s) is severe enough to be considered disabling by Social Security. He wouldn't be eligible, though, until his father starts drawing his Social Security benefits, or dies.

If your ex-husband dies and your son is in your care and he qualifies for disabled adult child's benefits, it is possible that you could qualify for surviving divorced mother's benefits even if your marriage lasted less than 10 years (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0300208010).

Best, Jerry