Hi - thank you for the answers. If I am correct, divorced spouses are not supposed to re-marry to claim ex's benefit.
How does it work in a situation where a surviving divorced widow (husband or wife), the ex passed away. Could he claim the divorced widower benefit on ex's record, and re-marry either before filing a claim or after, while allowing own benefit to grow? Thank you

Hi. Yes. As long as a person gets married after reaching age 60, that marriage would not prevent them from qualifying for survivor benefits on the record of a deceased ex-spouse. Therefore, they could potentially collect survivor benefits while allowing their own benefit rate to grow until age 70.

However, you can only collect survivor benefits and allow your own benefit rate to grow if you haven't already started drawing your own benefits. Once you start collecting your Social Security retirement benefits, you can't suspend your benefits and collect survivor benefits instead. But, if you've been drawing Social Security retirement benefits for no more than a year, you could potentially withdraw your application, pay back the benefits you've received, and apply for survivor benefits instead. Whether or not that's a good idea, though, depends on the circumstances involved.

Best, Jerry