A divorced person can collect Social Security on a former spouse’s record, and the former spouse’s own check does not shrink when that happens. The rule applies to someone who is 62 or older, has not remarried and was married to the ex for at least 10 years. The most the divorced spouse can receive is half of the ex’s benefit at full retirement age.
The Social Security Administration spells out the 10-year test on its family benefits eligibility page, which says ex-spouses who were married for at least 10 years, as well as some valid non-marital legal relationships, may be eligible. For many people who divorced after a long marriage, that makes the ex’s work record a real option in retirement.
Who can claim on an ex-spouse’s record
Three conditions come up again and again. The marriage lasted at least 10 years, the divorced spouse is at least 62, and the divorced spouse is unmarried. An SSA blog post on ex-spouse benefits puts it this way: if a person is age 62, unmarried, and divorced from someone entitled to Social Security, the ex’s record may be an option.
The 10 years refers to the length of the marriage, not the years since the divorce. A person who was married for 11 years, divorced, and is now 63 and single has met the marriage test and the age test. A person who was married for nine years and 11 months has not, and the ex’s record is not available to that person.
Anyone in that group faces a decision rather than an automatic payment. The question is whether the ex’s record pays more than the person’s own, and when to start. That question is the one most divorced spouses carry into their 60s.
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How much a divorced spouse can receive
The ceiling is half of the ex’s benefit at full retirement age. SSA’s family benefit amounts page says a person could get up to half of the benefit amount a family member would get at their full retirement age. “Up to” is the key phrase. Starting before full retirement age means a smaller payment, and the page notes that SSA pays the single highest amount a person is eligible for rather than adding two benefits together.
A simple example shows the ceiling. If an ex’s benefit at full retirement age is $2,000 a month, the most a divorced spouse could receive on that record is $1,000 a month, and less if the claim starts before the divorced spouse’s own full retirement age. The figures are illustrative, since each record is different.
That last point shapes the choice. A divorced spouse with a solid work history of their own may find the personal benefit is already larger than half of the ex’s. In that case the ex’s record adds nothing. A divorced spouse with a short or low-paid work history is the person most likely to come out ahead on the ex’s record.
The amount is also based on the ex’s full retirement age benefit, not on what the ex actually collects. If the ex claimed early and receives a reduced check, the divorced spouse’s ceiling is still tied to the full retirement age figure that SSA calculates from the ex’s earnings record.
The 10-year test is specific to ex-spouses. For a current spouse, the same eligibility page says the marriage needs to have lasted at least one year, along with being 62 or older or caring for a child. A divorced spouse therefore faces a longer marriage requirement but does not have to be caring for anyone to qualify.
Why the ex does not lose anything
The question divorced spouses ask most often is whether claiming will hurt the former partner. SSA’s blog says the amount of benefits a divorced spouse gets has no effect on the benefits of the ex-spouse and his or her current spouse. The family benefit amounts page backs that up with a related rule: payments to ex-spouses do not count toward the family maximum.
The family maximum is the limit on how much SSA pays in total on one worker’s record. When it applies, payments to a current spouse and children are lowered to stay under it. Because ex-spouse payments sit outside that limit, a divorced spouse’s claim does not reduce what a current spouse or children collect on the same record.
Where the claim starts
SSA’s family benefits page says spouses, ex-spouses, children and some grandchildren may be eligible, and that the agency considers age, marital status and other factors in deciding. The agency’s apply page lists the ways to start an application for retirement, survivor and family benefits and links to the nearest office.
The record that matters is the ex’s, so the divorced spouse can ask SSA what the ex-spouse amount would be at each starting age and compare it with the person’s own estimate. SSA’s pages list 1-800-772-1213 for questions about family benefit amounts. The comparison should come before any application, because the starting age sets the size of the check.
Is the ex’s record worth more than the person’s own?
The risk for a divorced spouse is claiming the wrong benefit at the wrong age. Starting early locks in a smaller check, and starting the ex-spouse benefit when the person’s own would have been larger can leave a larger benefit unclaimed.
The Social Security Claiming & Family Benefits Kit is built for that decision. It includes spousal and survivor sequencing worksheets and a claiming calculator (Excel) for claiming age, break-even and survivor benefits. The 37-page kit has a full part on spousal and divorced-spouse benefits.
Get the divorced-spouse sequencing worksheets and claiming calculator →
More Financial Reading
- 21 Ways to Stretch a $2,087 Social Security Check
- 15 Places to Find Your Share of the $4.25 Billion States Give Back
- 17 Medicare Money Moves Now That Part D Caps at $2,400
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
