Hi I am 62 and 6 months, I am divorced twice, can I claim from my first husbands social security. we were married over 10yrs. been divorced since 2003. My second marriage only lasted 1 1/2 years. I still work 36 hrs a week but do not make enough $ to get by. How will it effect my claiming my own benefits when im 67

Hi. The only way that you could claim divorced spousal benefits without claiming your own benefits at the same time is if your ex-husband is deceased. As long as your ex is still living you could only be paid essentially the higher of your own benefit amount or your divorced spousal amount, and your benefit rate would be reduced for age if you start drawing prior to your full retirement age (FRA). Also, the only way that you could claim divorced spousal benefits while your ex-husband is living is if he's at least age 62 or he's drawing Social Security retirement or disability benefits.

Furthermore, if you claim benefits prior to FRA at least some of your benefits could be subject to withholding due to Social Security's earnings test (https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/whileworking.html). The earnings test would still apply even if your ex is deceased, but in that event you'd have different filing strategies. You may want to strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze the options available to you in order to determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry