I was married for 24 years, divorced for 14 years, and still unmarried. Both my ex spouse & I will be 66 years old, reaching full retirement age by December 2016 when I plan to file. I understand that since I was at least 62 years old at the time of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, I am 'grandfathered' with respect to filing for divorced spouse benefits. However, my question is, can I file a restricted application on his record for 50% of his benefit (delaying by benefit until age 70) if 1) my benefit is greater than his, and/or 2) my benefit is more than 50% of his. Thank you.

Hi,

Yes, you can. The reason is that you will not be entitled to benefits on your own record until you file for them at age 70, so they won't offset your divorced spousal benefits until then. When you do start receiving your higher retirement benefits, your divorced spousal benefits will stop. Of course, as you are apparently aware, you can't apply just for divorced spousal benefits until you reach full retirement age in December.

Best, Jerry