Hi Larry, I can not find and answer to this question anywhere on the internet. He is the situation, My wife filed for her ss when she turned 62, I was only 60 then. Now I am 63 and have filed, I want to switch her to spousal benefit but cant figure out how except to make an appointment with the local office. Is there any other way to get this done online? When I talked with an agent they said to just fill out the application and mark spouse, there is only one application I found and it is the original filing application and specifically says you can not use it if already receiving benefits. Thanks for your time. Love the software and it was dead on to the dollar of what I am suppose to receive!

Hi,

If your wife is already drawing her Social Security retirement benefits she can't file for spousal benefits online. She'll need to contact Social Security and file an application either by phone or in person. Your wife can't actually switch from retirement to spousal benefits, though, but she could file for additional spousal benefits if she's eligible.

In order for your wife to be eligible for spousal benefits in addition to her own retirement benefits, your primary insurance amount (PIA) would have to be more than twice as much as her PIA. If it is, and if she starts drawing spousal benefits prior to her full retirement age (FRA), any additional spousal benefits for which she qualifies will be reduced for age. If you haven't already done so, you may want to use our software to analyze your wife's options with regard to spousal benefits.

Best, Jerry