I am 64 years old and have not started claiming any social security benefits. I would like to better understand the ex spousal benefit. My ex husband (a really nice guy) and I were married for 11 years. He remarried several years ago and I have not ever remarried. We have been divorced from each other for 24 years. Throughout our work careers, I earned more money than he did. Am I eligible to claim any benefits based on being an unmarried ex spouse? Would it be beneficial to claim his benefits and hold off on mine until I am at least 66 (born in 1952)? Because I earned more than he did, should I even attempt to collect ex spouse benefits? Would doing so harm my future individual Social Security benefits? Thank you so much for understanding and interpreting this very complex program.

Hi,

It sounds like you meet all of the requirements for divorced spousal benefits. You wouldn't want to apply for them prior to full retirement age, which for you is age 66, because then you would be deemed to also have filed for reduced benefits on your own record, and you would only receive essentially the higher of the two reduced benefits.

What you should almost certainly do is file a restricted application for divorced spousal benefits only when you reach age 66. You can then switch to your own record at age 70, at which time the benefit amount payable on your own account will be 32% higher than at age 66. The only catch is that your ex-husband must either be at least age 62, or drawing disability benefits, in order for you to be eligible for the divorced spousal benefits.

Best, Jerry