I've got a friend who is divorced. She was married for more than 10 years and has been divorced more than 2 years. Her ex is older than 62. She's approaching her FRA and doesn't know if she should apply for her SS benefits because she's not sure if her spousal benefit will be more than her amount if she waits until 70 to claim. If her spousal benefit is more than her age 70 amount it makes sense to claim at FRA. Is there any way she can find out what her spousal amount would be without applying?
Thanks

Hi. Yes. The privacy act allows Social Security to release that type of information to potential claimant's when it's needed to make filing decisions. Your friend will likely first need to prove to Social Security that she meets the requirements for divorced spousal benefits, though. A certified copy of her divorce decree showing her marriage date will probably suffice. After that, if Social Security claims they can't release information to your friend because of the privacy act, she should direct whomever she speaks with to section GN 03316.110 of Social Security's operations manual (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0203316110).

Our software ((https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) could calculate your friend's potential divorced spousal rate if she has access to a copy of her ex's earnings history. Alternatively, she'd need to be able to furnish at least an approximation of her ex's primary insurance amount in order to get the most accurate results from the software,

Best, Jerry