Hi Larry, I went through a terrible divorce and my ex-husband took me back to court in 2019 and tryed to get my spousal support stopped, but it didn't go his way and instead he only wanted to half of what I'm suppose to get. I filed a court order to get monthly payments out of his Social Security, only because I don't know if he is working or not and he won't say. If he is working he's getting cash. The court order was certified and signed by the Judge and mailed to Social Security before all this virus hit us. Can I collect from his Social Security? Every thing should have been processed, but the local Social Security office lost it, and I had to start all over again. By the time I sent for a copy to the court, it closed. I even had to pay 40.00 for the copy, and nothing has been done yet! Can I get $1,200.00 every month which includes back pay of $4,000.00 from 2019 which will take about 2 years to pay off? Is there a certain Social Security office I can contact about the employees in this office?I fought with them on the phone and made numerous visits to that office and was just sent in circles and I even called and left messages with different supervisors and no one called me back. I just thought is this how our government treats us? My ex- husband collects over $2,000.00. A month.

Hi,

I assume that you're referring to a garnishment order as opposed to divorced spousal benefits. Nothing done in a local , county, or state court can affect a person's Social Security benefit entitlement. In order to qualify for divorced spousal benefits you'd need to meet the requirements for entitlement, such as meeting the minimum age requirement of 62 and having been married for at least 10 years (https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.03/handbook-0311.html).

However, a person's Social Security benefits can be garnished based on a lower court order to pay alimony or child support. Proper servicing of the court order for garnishment must be presented to Social Security, and the specific requirements for servicing are governed by individual state laws (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0202410205).

Assuming that the garnishment order in your case met the requirements, then Social Security should comply with the order. However, the maximum garnishment rate allowed for alimony is limited to the lesser of the state maximum, or the federal maximum. The federal maximum allows up to 65% of a worker's benefits to be garnished for alimony if the worker is not currently supporting a spouse or child, and if the original support order is in arrears for at 12 weeks. Therefore, the amount of your ex's Social Security benefits that could be paid to you for alimony depends on his benefit amount, the court ordered amount, and whether or not your ex is currently supporting another spouse or a child (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0202410215).

To register a complaint against a specific Social Security employee, you should probably start by asking to speak with their supervisor and/or office manager. If you've already done that and you're still dissatisfied, I would suggest reporting your problem to the offices of your congressional representative or one of your U.S. senators.

Best, Jerry