Question: I got divorced years ago, but I recently was told I can collect on my ex-husband’s Social Security Benefit. Is that true? Can I collect from him even though we haven’t been married for a long time?

Answer: I will use my favorite answer for this question; “It Depends!” Now I will address many of the issues related to this topic. I also must note that all the information for this answer came directly from the Social Security Administration (SSA) website. If you are comfortable using the computer, the www.ssa.gov website will be very useful for your questions and research on any topic related to collecting Social Security benefits.

The standard for you to receive benefits on the work history of a spouse or ex-spouse, is a marriage that lasts 10 years or longer. Using this standard, there are some individuals who could have multiple spouses and ex-spouses.

When you are married for more than 10 years and are still married, you can collect on your spouse’s benefit if they have filed for Social Security benefits and you are over 62 as well. That is the very basic answer. There are many situations that could change that answer. Variables like working (full or part-time), date of birth, and others.

When you are divorced, the marriage must have lasted 10 years or more, but there are other variables we must touch on. We are going to use names to make this clearer.

Let’s say Sally and Bob were married for 12 years. They divorced many years ago, in the late 80’s. Since that time, both Sally and Bob remarried. Sally’s 2nd husband (Sam) recently passed away. Sally is now over 62, and as a recent widow has decided to collect her SS benefit.

Sally could be eligible for three different benefits, her own benefit based on her work history, her recently deceased husband, Sam’s, benefit based on his work history, and her ex-husband’s benefit based on his work history. That was something Sally did not understand until she spoke to Social Security Administration about filing.

In this situation, Sally, as we noted, is over 62 (and we are all eligible for SS benefits at that age), which is considered early retirement. The amount Sally would receive on her work history would be a reduced amount at age 62. If she waits to file for her full benefit, she would need to wait until 66 because Sally was born in 1953. If she was born later, like 1955 or 1961, she would need to wait longer (up to 67 yrs) for her full retirement benefit.

Sally is also the recent widow of Sam. As a widow, she is eligible for survivor’s benefit based on Sam’s work history. This benefit could be more or less than her work history benefit. If this widow’s benefit were more than her benefit, she would file for that. If the survivor’s benefit were less, she would simply collect on her benefit.

Sally could also be eligible for Bob’s (her ex-spouse) benefit. She is now eligible for this because her husband Sam is deceased. If Sam were still living she would NOT be eligible to collect on Bob’s work history. Since Sam is deceased, Sally is no longer married. She could collect on Bob’s work history because they were married more than 10 years, Bob is now eligible for Social Security Benefits and has filed for his Benefit (is collecting his Social Security), and Sally (as noted) is no longer married. In this situation Sally could be eligible for one-half of Bob’s full benefit amount.

When talking with SSA staff about benefits, they ask a lot of questions. Those questions are to determine the full amount of benefits you could be eligible for. Determining benefits would be so much easier if everyone either stayed single or only married once- until death do us part. Nevertheless, we are all very complicated people. Many of us have multiple jobs, multiple places we live, and sometimes multiple marriages. All of those variables affect our Social Security Benefits.

If we go back to that original question; Am I eligible to collect on my ex-spouses Social Security Benefit? The answer could be yes or no. I think based on the information given in the question, I would answer Yes. So contact SSA to talk to them and file for that benefit.

It is also important to understand that the SSA staff works to make sure you receive the highest possible monthly benefit you are eligible for. It is important to clarify that Sally won’t receive her early retirement ($680), and her recently deceased husband Sam’s Survivors benefit ($1,800) and her ex-husband’s Bob’s benefit ($1210). That would be a monthly total of $3690. She will receive the highest amount of any of those benefits, $1800. In this scenario that is Sam’s survivors benefit. But in a different mathematical situation, it certainly could have been her ex-husband, Bob’s monthly benefit.

It is noteworthy at this point to state that when Bob passes away, Sally’s benefit could then jump to his full benefit amount as a survivor benefit.

Sally’s eligibility to collect on her ex-husband’s benefit has no impact on his amount collected or on his current wife’s benefit. When collecting on an ex-spouse or even a current spouse, the amount collected does NOT decrease the amount they collect. As an example. Sally could be eligible for $1210 from her ex-husband Bob full benefit amount of $2420. Bob’s current wife could also collect $1210 if she were over 62 years. Neither of these benefits reduce Bob’s monthly benefit of $2420. So SSA could be paying out monthly benefits of $3630 or even more depending on the number of ex-spouses Bob had.

As always, I want to refer each of you back to the Social Security Administration (SSA) to review your individual situation. There are many variables that impact your claim situation (benefit amount). SSA can be reached at the national help-line # of 1-800-772-1213, the local office Jamestown 1-877-319-3079, Dunkirk 1-888-862-2139, or Olean 1-877-319-5773. SSA offices are at 321 Hazeltine Ave. Jamestown, 437 Main Street Dunkirk, or 1618 West State St. Olean, NY. In regards to visiting or calling the local offices remember that all offices are open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Wednesday all local offices are open 9 a.m. to noon.

SSA can also be contacted via the website at www.SSA.gov. I would again like to note that all information in this article was based on research done at that website. So many of your questions can be answered with this website address and the tools available there.

To contact Janell Sluga, GCMC with insurance questions or concerns, please call 720-9797 or e-mail at janells@lutheran-jamestown.org.