Married twice. Divorced twice. 1st marriage 17 yrs 2nd 3 yrs. Can I collect SS from the first spouse? I just turned 65 and am in financial crisis and contemplating collecting mine or his (whichever is higher) now instead of waiting another 1yr and 8 months for full benefits. If I wait my own would be slightly higher at 66 & 8 months. Thank you.

Hi. All that I can tell you for sure based on the limited information in your question is that your short second marriage would not hinder your ability to potentially collect benefits on your first husband's record. However, since you don't specify whether or not your first husband is still living, I can't give you any specific filing advice.

As long as your first husband is living, you wouldn't be able to apply for either your own Social Security retirement benefits or for divorced spousal without being deemed to be filing for both benefits at the same time. As a result, you could only then be paid what is essentially the higher of your own benefit rate or your divorced spousal rate, and the benefit rate would be reduced for age if you start collecting benefits prior to your full retirement age (FRA).

If your first husband is deceased, though, then you could potentially apply for either your own retirement benefits or survivor benefits now, and wait until later to claim the other benefit. Your best filing strategy depends on numerous different variables, so you should strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully compare and analyze all of your options so that you can determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry