How to find out my ex-husband's PIA? Hi, Larry, I was married to my ex-husband for more than 10 years and we have been divorced for 7 years now. I have just turned 62 and have not remarried. I am still working and am going to try to wait until 70 to apply for my social security benefits, but want to plan in advance for various scenarios, and knowing my ex-husband's PIA would be useful as he earned more than me. My ex-husband was born in 1944 and in his late 50's went on disability (SSDI). At some point this changed to SSI automatically. I am wondering how to find out his PIA. 1) I might have old tax forms. If I do, which year's tax forms would be most helpful? 2) If he were to cooperate and create an SSA online account, would it tell him his PIA anywhere, given that he has been on benefits for so many years already? 3) Would I be able to get the information from SSA even though I am not currently applying for benefits? Thanks!
Hi. Unless you can either get that information from him, or you have a full record of your ex's yearly Social Security covered earnings, then you probably can't find out his primary insurance amount (PIA). Social Security won't give you that information due to the Privacy Act. However, the Privacy Act does allow Social Security to release information that is necessary as part of their operations. So, they should be able to tell you whether or not you are potentially eligible for divorced spousal benefits, and if so, approximately how much your benefit rate would be.
If your ex-husband became entitled to Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits in his late 50s, then his PIA would be based on his highest 30+ years of Social Security covered earnings. So, you probably wouldn't have all of the tax records needed to reconstruct his yearly earnings history. But, SSDI benefits are paid at a rate of 100% of the worker's PIA, so if your ex-husband is willing to tell you his gross benefit amount then that is likely equal to his PIA.
It sounds like you should strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully analyze all of your options so that you can determine your best strategy for maximizing your benefits. To get the best results from the software, though, it would be very helpful if you had at least an approximate PIA for your ex-spouse.
Best, Jerry
