Divorced? Guess what you may qualify for your spouses benefits, too
About half of Americans aged 65 or older live in households receiving at least 50% of their family income from Social Security benefits. To those people, its a crucial part of their retirement.
But some might not realize that if they dont have enough of a work record to qualify for a decent Social Security paycheck, they may be able to receive benefits as a spouse.
The trigger is actually pretty easy: You have to be at least 62 (or any age if you have a child younger than 16 whos in your care or has a disability) and your spouse must be receiving benefits. Otherwise, you will have to wait until your spouse receives retirement or disability benefits before you are able to apply on their behalf.
How much can you get?
The way the bean counters at the Social Security Administration (SSA) determine how much you get is simple, too. Your full spouses benefit could be as much as one-half the amount your spouse is eligible to receive when they hit full retirement age 65-67 --depending on when they were born.
If you decide you want to receive your spouses benefits before you reach full retirement age, you can but your payment will be permanently reduced. Yes, permanently, so think about that before you check the "yes" box.
Your spouse may have postponed or plan to postpone their retirement to increase their monthly benefit amount by earning delayed retirement credits, the SSA adds.
However, your maximum spouses benefit remains 50% of their full retirement age benefit, not their higher amount including delayed retirement credits. Your benefit as a surviving spouse would be based on the higher amount.
But if you wait until you reach full retirement age to receive benefits, the payoff is worth the wait because youll receive your full spouses benefit amount. You may also get your full spouses benefit if you are under full retirement age, but care for a child and one of the following applies:
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The child is younger than age 16.
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The child has a disability and is entitled to benefits on your spouses record.
The nice thing about that caveat is that payments going to family members dont lower your spouses retirement or disability benefit.
What is 'deemed filing?'
Another little string thats attached is if youre eligible for retirement and spouses benefits, you must apply for both. Once you do, then youll receive a combined benefit equaling the higher spouses amount. That requirement is called deemed filing because when you apply for one benefit you are deemed to have applied for the other benefit.
If you receive retirement on your own record, we will pay that amount first. If your benefits as a spouse are higher than your own benefit, you will get a combination of benefits that equals the higher spouses benefit, the agency said, then gave this example:
Linda is eligible for a monthly retirement benefit of $1,000 plus a spouses benefit of $1,250. If she waits for Social Security until her full retirement age, she will receive her own $1,000 retirement benefit. Then, SSA will add $250 from her spouses benefit, so now, shell get a total of $1,250 a month. The thing that works in Lindas favor here is that she only gets an additional spouses benefit because her own benefit is less than half her spouses full retirement age benefit.
Divorced? You can get benefits, too
A lot of seniors are saying to heck with marriage and calling it quits. In fact, the rate of divorce for those 65 to 74 years is at 39% much higher than for the general adult population. But what divorced spouses might not know is that if their marriage lasted at least 10 years, they may be able to get benefits on their former spouses record.
The rules for divorced spouses benefits are a little different than married couples. If youre interested, you can find out more by visiting SSAs Family benefits site. However, it may be easier to watch this explanation video from Geoffrey M. Schmidt CPA that breaks down all the ifs, ands, or buts in this divorce option.
How to apply
If this sounds like its something worth investigating, the SSA has made it fairly easy to apply for. The only rule is that you have to be at least 61 years and 9 months old. If you answered yes, visit the SSA's website to get started. If both you and your spouse have set up a personal my Social Security account, then you can view an estimate of the benefits you could receive based on your spouses record.
Photo Credit: Consumer Affairs News Department Images
Posted: 2024-08-07 11:05:57
