Divorced Widow(er) Benefits

I had been drawing off of my ex spouse's benefits; when I reached age 70 I started to draw from my own. When my ex spouse dies will I receive a higher amount and will that change automatically or do I have to apply for it. I have not been in contact with him for 20 years and would not know if he were to die.

Hi,

If your ex-spouse's benefit rate is higher than your own benefit rate, it sounds like you'd be eligible for his or her higher rate as a survivor. You'd only get the higher of his rate or your rate, however, not both.

I am 67 and retired collecting my own social security. I was just told that I could have been collecting my deceased ex-husands social security when I turned 62 until I retired at age 66 then switch to my social security. We were married 14 years and I am not married. Can I go back & collect from his social security from age 62 to 66?

Hi,

Hi. I went to the SSA office to apply for my benefits having just turned 62. The woman who helped me told me that I was eligible for divorced widow benefits which had never occurred to me. This would benefit me pretty significantly but I want to make sure that it does not have a negative impact on his wife at the time of his death.

He and I were married for 13 years - 81 to 94. He was married to his second wife for less than 10 years and they had a minor child at the time of his death in 06.

I was common law married to my ex for 10 years before we married for two years before divorcing. He died last year. I have a child by him who was born the first year in our common law marriage. My question is: I am trying to claim his benefits and they want proof of common law marriage. I thought it would be easy since we filed our tax returns together but have since found out you can only go back 4 years for the transcripts. We were common law married in the 90's. Any suggestions?

Hi,

Larry, my sister just found out her ex-husband of more than 10 years died in August. He had filed for Social Security in 2017 and was receiving a monthly benefit of about $2700. She will turn 66 on Feb. 2 of 2019. She has been told by a SS representative that she can file for a deceased divorced spousal benefit now and get payments back to his death. When she asked if she should wait until her FRA she was told it wouldn't make any difference, the payment would be the same. Is this correct?

My ex-husband, whom I understand I am eligible to collect off him due to being married for 25yrs. and I never re-married, was on social security disability for 2 yrs. and then passed away at age 58. My question is would I receive the same amount he was collecting when he passed, if I wait till age 66? He had more paid into social security than I do. We never knew where he was but I did receive his social security statement and it said if you were to die today your spouse would receive 1700.00. Would that be an accurate gage?

I will be 60 in a few months and have applied for my divorced deceased ex spouse benefit with SSA. The representative said that I fall under new regs implemented a few years ago and that I will be notified a few months prior to my 62nd birthday requesting that I apply for my own social security benefit. If I don't then my divorced deceased ex spouse benefit will be suspended. I asked for the POM Manual regs.

Hi Larry,

I am receiving spousal benefits from my ex-husband as well as my own SS benefits which brings me up to 50% of his PIA. Upon his death would I qualify for his "full" benefit amount? Can you explain the death benefit?

Thank you very much,
Irene

Hi Irene,

Is a divorced widow required to apply for her X husband's social security. I have a client whose apartment rent is based on income and it would dramatically increase should she HAVE TO accept his benefit rate? This might force her to move...

Hi,

No one is actually required by Social Security to file for benefits, but there can be consequences for not filing. For example, if a person is receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) they must file for any Social Security benefits for which they are eligible or else their SSI payments will stop.

Can I receive full ex-spouse survivor benefits if I took either of these options first
1. Take ex-spousal benefits ( half his record) at 66 leaving my record to grow to age 70. I would be receiving about $200 less than on my own record for those four years to get about $300 more for life at 70. If I am eligible for full ex-survivor benefits I would be receiving about $800 more than my age 66 benefit and about $500 more than my age 70 benefit, depending on the death of my ex-husband