I reached full retirement age on 16 August 2019. The lady I’m planning to marry is a South Korean national. Her birth date id 5 February 1956. How long must we be married for her to apply for social security benefits (spousal benefits) based on my earnings? I have been told we need to be married at least nine months - should I proceed her in death - in order for her to be able to collect 100% of my social security benefit.

Hi,

You and your fiancée would need to be married for at least a year in order for her to qualify for spousal benefits, unless she meets an exception to the 1-year duration of marriage requirement. A list of those exceptions can be found in section E of the following reference from Social Security's handbook: https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.03/handbook-0305.html. Also, you must be drawing your benefits in order for your wife to be able to draw spousal benefits.

In order to qualify for widow's benefits, you and your wife would normally need to have been married for at least 9 months prior to your death. There are exceptions to that rule as well, though, which are listed in section F of the following reference from the Social Security handbook: https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.04/handbook-0401.html.

You don't mention where your fiancée is living, so I'm assuming that she's living here in the U.S. If not, she may not be able to be paid benefits even if she would otherwise qualify for benefits. The rules for benefit payment eligibility for non-resident aliens are explained in the following Social Security publication: https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10137.pdf.

You and your fiancée may want to consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to explore and compare all of your various options so that you can determine the best strategy for maximizing your benefits.

Best, Jerry