Hello I have an unusual situation. I am 64 (born Sept 1952) and my husband is 65 (born April 1952). We are married common-law in PA (1990 so grandfathered). He is not working and I plan to retire and start collecting at FRA (Sept 2018). I'm thinking he should start collecting on his record (much lower than mine) at his FRA (April 2018) and then switch to spousal benefits when I start collecting in Sept 2018. I understand the need but the process to prove common-law marriage is ugly (I have no blood relatives). That led me to consider getting a marriage license and doing the ceremony next month just to avoid dealing with it. If we did so, we would be married with a marriage certificate more than a year before I start collecting. The only drawback I can see is if I should unexpectedly die before I start collecting but less than a year after our "official" marriage, my husband would have to do what is needed to prove the common-law marriage in order to get spousal benefits. Is there anything I am overlooking?

Hi,

It sounds like you have a good understand of the marriage rules. The duration of marriage requirement for widow(er) benefits is normally 9 months, but there are exceptions (e.g. accidental death) to even that requirement. So, if you died before your ceremonial marriage had lasted for 9 months, your husband may or may not have to prove your common-law marriage.

Before filing, though, you and your husband should strongly consider using the maximization software available on this website in order to be sure that choose the best overall filing strategy. It sounds like it may be best for one of you to file for spousal benefits only at FRA and wait until age 70 to file on their own record.

Best, Jerry