I was born May 22, 1952& he was born June 15, 1953.We were married in 1977& divorced in 1998. By the time we divorced, I was disabled&receiving disability benefits from social security under my work record. Those benefits became retirement benefits when I reached "retirement age." At that time, my wor k record didn't reach the threshold for me to draw benefits off his record. He plans to let his social security benefits grow until he reaches the age when he's required to collect. I believe that age is 70.When he turns 70 (2023),will I be able to collect because his benefit has grown while mine has stayed the same (other than COLA) since the mid1990's when I started to collect disability?

Hi. As long as your ex-husband is living, the most that you could be paid is the higher of a) your own benefit rate, or b) 50% of your ex's primary insurance amount (PIA). That's true even if your husband waits until age 70 to start drawing his benefits. A person's PIA is equal to their Social Security retirement benefit rate if they start drawing their benefits at full retirement age (FRA).

If your disability benefits converted retirement benefits at your full retirement age (FRA), then your full benefit amount is equal to your PIA. So, unless your ex-husband's full retirement age rate (i.e. PIA) is more than twice as much as your benefit rate, you won't be able to qualify for divorced spousal benefits during his lifetime. However, if your ex dies before you, then you could be paid up to the higher of your own rate or 100% of your ex-husband's full benefit amount inclusive of any delayed retirement credits (DRC) that he earns by waiting past FRA to start drawing his benefits.

Best, Jerry