I have been divorced from a man I was married to for 18 years. He is 11 years older than me, so will most likely pass before I do. I am self employed, 61, and plan to work to age 70, when I will hopefully collect a larger SSA check. Am I able to collect his widow benefits once he passes and then switch to mine at age 70? He could already be gone, as we do not keep contact. How could I find out his status, if I am able to collect widow benefits? Thank you!

Hi,

Yes, since you're already at least age 60, if your ex dies you could file just for surviving divorced spousal benefits while allowing your own benefit rate to grow to age 70. However, until you reach full retirement age (FRA) your benefits could be subject to full or partial withholding depending on your earnings. Social Security withholds $1 of benefits for each $2 that a person earns in excess of $18,240 this year, unless the person will reach FRA prior to the end of 2020 (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/whileworking.html).

Social Security generally receives notice either from state records or funeral homes when a person dies, so they should be able to tell you whether or not you could currently qualify for surviving divorced spousal benefits. However, if your ex is still living, Social Security won't contact you in the event of his death. So, if you have no other way of finding out if your ex dies, you may need to keep contacting Social Security regularly in order to prevent a possible loss of benefits.

Best, Jerry