Hi I am 58 and on disability, me and my ex have been divorced for 10 years but were married 23 years . My ex is 63 but we have no contact with him , he had always had a good paying job I don’t know if he is retired or not I never got any alimony from him, he just left and I divorced. I like to know if I can claim from his retirement ssa money since I am on disability and how can you please help me I never got a straight answer from anyone

Hi. No. You can't collect divorced spousal benefits on the record of a living ex-spouse prior to when you reach age 62, even if you're disabled. If your ex-dies you would be old enough to potentially collect disabled widow's benefits now, but you'd only qualify for widow's benefits if your ex-spouse's benefit rate is higher than your own.

As long as your ex-spouse is still living, you'll only be able to qualify for divorced spousal benefits if 50% of your ex's primary insurance amount (PIA) is higher than your own PIA. A person's PIA is equal to their Social Security retirement benefit rate if they start drawing their benefits at full retirement age (FRA), or their full Social Security disability (SSDI) benefit. And, if you do qualify for divorced spousal benefits and if you claim them prior to your full retirement age (FRA), your divorced spousal rate will be reduced for age.

Best, Jerry