I will reach FRA (66) in December 2017 and am eligible for divorced spousal benefits as well as my own (which will be higher). Am I able to apply for my own PIA in December then (in about a year) switch to the lower divorced spousal benefit to allow delayed retirement credits on my own benefits to accumulate?

Hi,

No. Once you file for retirement benefits on your own record, that becomes your primary benefit for life. If you subsequently file for another type of benefit (e.g. divorced spouse's, widow's, etc.), you could only receive benefits on the other record if the benefit rate on that record is higher than your own.

What you could do is file just for divorced spousal benefits at age 66, then switch to your own record at age 70. This is likely your best strategy, but you may want to run the maximization software on this website to be sure.

Best, Jerry