Hi Larry

I was a full-time mom while my ex-husband who is now deceased earned a good salary. He died at age 70 and I don’t know whether he ever collected benefits. We were married for 16 years and I believe I would be entitled to spousal benefits. I have just turned 65 years old and have not started taking benefits yet. my own lifetime earnings are quite low. What are your suggestions as to how and when to claim spousal benefits? Thank you!

Hi. I assume that you're currently unmarried. Your best filing strategy depends largely on if and when your ex-spouse started collecting his Social Security retirement benefits, and how much you're earning if you are working.

It sounds like your best strategy for claiming benefits would likely be one of the following:
1) File for reduced survivor benefits now or as soon as your earnings will permit at least some benefits to be paid, then switch to your own record at age 70; or,
2) File for reduced retirement benefits on your own record now or as soon as your earnings will permit at least some benefits to be paid, then file for unreduced survivor benefits at your full retirement age (FRA). However, if your ex collected reduced Social Security retirement benefits prior to his death then you almost certainly would want to claim survivor benefits earlier than your FRA.

Normally, you would want to start out drawing the lower benefit first and then switch to the higher benefit when it reaches its highest potential rate. Our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) could help sort all of this out for you so that you can determine the best strategy for maximizing your benefits, but for best results you would first need to find out from Social Security if your ex-spouse collected reduced retirement benefits prior to his death.

Best, Jerry