Larry, I was married for 18 years, divorced and then remarried for 6 months before my husband died. My first husband is 66 and retired; I am 55. I recently visited a social security office where I was told I can collect on my husband’s benefit at 62 then start my full benefit at a later date, however, what I’ve been reading online leads me to believe something different (since I was born after 1956). Can you please provide clarification on that? Thank you.

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

You can't file for spousal or divorced spousal benefits at age 62 on the record of a living spouse or ex-spouse without also being deemed to be filing for your own Social Security benefits at the same time. That's true regardless of when you were born. People who were born prior to January 2 1954 can file just for spousal or divorced spousal without being deemed to file for their own benefits, but only if they claim the spousal or divorced benefits at full retirement age (FRA) or later.

Regardless of your birthdate, though, you are allowed to file for widow's or surviving divorced wife's benefits as early as age 60 without being deemed to have filed for your own benefits. However, I don't know whether or not you could qualify for widow's benefits on your deceased husband's account. You must normally have been married for at least 9 months in order to potentially qualify for widow's benefits, but there are exceptions to the duration of marriage requirement. Those exceptions are outlined in the following section of Social Security's handbook: https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.04/handbook-0404.html.

I don't have enough information about your potential benefit rates and options to give you any advice about filing, so you may want to consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to do your Social Security planning.

Best, Jerry