Hello Larry,

My mother-in-law is 65 and divorced, her ex husband is also 65. They were married for 30 years and she never remarried. Would she be able to file for spousal benefits now and delay her own benefits until 70? By collecting spousal benefits before her FRA will that reduce her benefit at age 70?

Thanks,
Casey

Hi Casey,

No. As long as your mother-in-law's ex-spouse is still living, she could never file just for divorced spousal benefits without also being deemed to be applying for her own benefits at the same time. Only people born prior to January 2 1954 were allowed to file just for spousal or divorced spousal benefits without also filing for their own benefits, and even they couldn't file for spousal or divorced spousal benefits prior to full retirement age (FRA) without being deemed to be applying for their own benefits at the same time.

Whenever your mother-in-law files, she could only be paid essentially the higher or her own benefit rate or her divorced spousal rate, and her benefit rate will be reduced for age if she starts drawing prior to FRA. She may want to consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze her options in order to determine her best strategy for maximizing benefits.

Best, Jerry