I was married for 28yrs before my divorce and the judge told my ex that I am the only woman to receive his retirement and I was awarded disability in 2016 and draw 772 a month, I'm 62 now also my ex is 64 and he became disabled and drawing his social security now and drawing over 2,000.00 could I start drawing from him now or do I have to wait until I'm 65? Sharon

Hi Sharon,

It sounds like you could start drawing on your ex's record now, but if you file for divorced spousal benefits prior to your full retirement age (FRA) your divorced spousal rate will be reduced for age.

For example, say Mary is drawing a Social Security disability (SSDI) benefit of $772, and then becomes eligible for divorced spousal benefits at age 62. Mary's ex-spouse's primary insurance amount (PIA) is $2000. A person's PIA is equal to the full amount of their SSDI benefit, or the amount of their Social Security retirement benefit if they start drawing at FRA. Mary's unreduced excess divorced spousal benefit is calculated by subtracting her PIA of $772 from 50% of her ex's PIA (i.e. $1000, or $2000/2), which amounts to $228 in Mary's case. However, if Mary starts drawing her divorced spousal benefit at age 62 instead of her FRA of 66 1/2, her excess divorced spousal rate would be reduced to $154. That amount would then be paid in addition to Mary's SSDI benefit to give her a total benefit amount of $926 (i.e. $772 + $154).

Best, Jerry