Ask Larry

Am I Eligible For Benefits On My Deceased Ex-Spouse's Record?

I'm 58 and on disability I was married for 15 years and then divorced. she then started getting disability and now she has died can I recieve her benefits. I never remarried but she did 4times

Hi,

It sounds like you might qualify for disabled surviving divorced spousal benefits (DWB), but only if your ex-spouse's primary insurance amount (PIA) is higher than your own PIA. A person's PIA is equal to their full retirement age rate or full Social Security disability benefit (SSDI) rate, so if you know how your ex-wife's SSDI rate compared with yours, you could probably determine if you're eligible for DWB.

The fact that your ex remarried after your divorce is irrelevant with regard to your potential eligibility for DWB. If you do qualify for DWB it would almost certainly be advantageous to claim those benefits as soon as possible, so you'll probably want to check with Social Security to see if you're eligible.

Best, Jerry

Posted: 
Mar 5 2019 - 10:23am
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