My ex spouse and I divorced in 2003, after more than 10 years of marriage. I began receiving social security disability on or right around that time. He never remarried. I remarried in 2013 and my husband died 364 days later. I began receiving survivor benefits after his death. My ex husband also passed away in 2015, after receiving on one SS retirement check. Can I change which spouse I receive the survivor benefits on,as my ex had considerable more income. Thank you Larry for any assistance you can provide me. Donna

Hi Donna,

I am age 61 my husband of 35 years passed on Easter this year. We have been divorced for 7 years neither of us remarried. Am I able to draw full widows SS and work full time. Will I still receive IF I remarry.

Hi,

My ex-husband recently passed away. I meet the qualifications for a divorced survivor benefit. He claimed benefits about 6 month prior to his FRA at age 65. I am 64, will be 65 next month, June of 2017. When I requested an estimate of benefits I was told the RIB LIM formula would be applied and the results were 82.5% of his full PIA. The figure I was given was $2243 and was advised this was the highest possible no matter when I apply.

Hi Larry,
I know ex-spouse social security benefit payment do NOT include delayed credits, but do ex-spouse SURVIVOR benefits include the delay credit amount ?
Thank You

Hi,

Potentially, yes. In other words, if the deceased worker earned delayed retirement credits (DRC) for deferring their entitlement past full retirement age, those DRC's would be used in calculating the benefit rate of a surviving divorced spouse drawing on that record.

Best, Jerry

Hello, My ex-husband and I were married for 25 years when we divorced 5 years ago. He was on total disability due to illness and recently just passed away. I am not re-married, am 55 years old and work full time. What are my options with his disability benefits? Can I apply for them now or at a later date? Thank you for any guidance. Kathie

Hi Kathie,

My ex-husband just passed away. We were married 18 years before divorcing. I remarried, and he passed away after being married only 5 days. I will be 62 this year and disabled. Am I able to file for Widows benefits under my first husband? Should I also file for early retirement? I have worked all my life up until the last two years when I became disabled.

Hi,

My mother is 81 years old, lives in Queens NY, married my father in Freeport NY 1961. My parents separated approximately in 1992, my father moved to Hamlet NC. My parents officially divorced in 2004. My father remarried in 2006. While still married to his 2nd wife my father passed away on February 29th 2016. Can my mother, his ex wife collect my father's SS since they were married for so many years? My mother his 1st wife began collecting SS when she was 65.

Hi,

Hi Larry, I need to know if the rules for SS is different from one State to another? I have two friends in Virginia, and both of them gets disability, plus both of their husbands are deceased and they draw a widows pension also. I tried to go draw on my exhusbands pension and was told I had to give up my SS to get his and it was over two hundred dollars less. The friends were not married to their husbands at the time. I hope you can help, thank you for your help, SaNdY

Hi Sandy,

I was divorced after 15 years, and remarried before age 60 to the very same person, then divorced again, all before the age of 60. I am receiving a reduced SS payment now at age 64. If he passes away, at 66 can I still apply for divorced widower benefits or is that remarriage to the same person before age 60 a technicality that would bar me from receiving those benefits?

Hi,

I receive my reduced benefit of $720 at age 63. My ex receives 1200 in disability. If he passes away will I be able to Apply for 1200 in widower benefits if I have reached my full retirement age by then, even though I started receiving my own benefits early?

Hi,