I’ve been on Social Security Disability since February of 2012. I was 49 years old. My wife and I are divorcing this year. She has been collecting her Social Security since she turned 62 in 2017. Can she now file for spousal Social Security, since mine is more than hers?

Hi. Assuming that your wife is collecting Social Security retirement benefits and not Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits, it sounds like she would already be drawing spousal benefits if she was eligible for them. Since you were drawing your SSDI benefits when your wife applied for her benefits, she would have been deemed to also be filing for spousal benefits when she applied for her own retirement benefits. In that case she should already be drawing what is essentially the higher of her own benefit rate or her spousal rate.

Unreduced spousal and divorced spousal benefits are calculated based on 50% of the worker's primary insurance amount (PIA), but the actual benefit rate is reduced if you start drawing them prior to your full retirement age (FRA). The only way that your wife could qualify for spousal or divorced spousal benefits during your lifetime is if 50% of your PIA is more than your wife's own PIA. A person's PIA is equal to their monthly Social Security retirement benefit rate if they start drawing their retirement benefits at FRA, or their full SSDI benefit rate.

Best, Jerry