I am on disability and social security now. I'm currently 63. Can I draw on my ex's benefits. We were married 13 years.

Hi,

Assuming that your ex-spouse is living and that what you're receiving is either Social Security disability (SSDI) or Social Security retirement benefits, the only way that you could be eligible for additional benefits as a divorced spouse is if a) your ex is either drawing his Social Security benefits or he's at least age 62, and b) your ex's primary insurance amount (PIA) is more than twice as much as your own PIA. A person's PIA is equal to their Social Security retirement benefit rate if they start drawing their benefits at full retirement age (FRA), or their full SSDI rate. You would also need to currently be unmarried in order to qualify for divorced spousal benefits.

If you're ex-spouse is deceased and if you are currently unmarried or you remarried after reaching age 60, you could potentially qualify for survivor benefits if your survivor benefit rate would be higher than your own benefit rate. A surviving divorced spouse can be paid up to the higher of a) their own benefit rate, or b) their spouse's PIA inclusive of any delayed retirement credits (DRC) they earned by waiting past full retirement age (FRA) to file for their benefits, or c) the higher or their ex-spouse's reduced benefit rate or 82.5% of their ex-spouse's PIA if their ex-spouse began drawing their Social Security retirement benefits prior to FRA.

However, if you do qualify for additional benefits as a divorced spouse or surviving divorced spouse, your divorced spousal rate would be subject to a reduction for age if you start drawing those benefits prior to FRA.

Best, Jerry