If I remarry, could that lower the amount of my social security retirement check, as compared to if I remained single? Does my age at the time of remarrying, also affect my benefit amount? I am 59, my ex spouse worked and earned less than I did during the course of our 20 year marriage, and my current boyfriend has been steadily employed his entire adult life and makes about twice as much as I do. Lastly, would my ex spouse benefit in any way from my remarrying?

Hi,

A remarriage would have no effect on Social Security retirement benefits payable on your own record. About the only way that a remarriage could affect your Social Security options is if you could otherwise qualify for divorced spousal or surviving divorced spousal benefits. A remarriage would bar divorced spousal entitlement on the record of a living ex-spouse for the duration of the remarriage. It would also bar entitlement to surviving divorced spousal benefits for the duration of the remarriage unless the remarriage occurred at age 60 or later, or at or after the date of entitlement to disabled surviving divorced spousal benefits.

On the other hand, a remarriage could potentially result in eventual entitlement to spousal or widow(er)'s benefit entitlement for either you or your new spouse, so you may want to strongly consider using the maximization software available on this website to explore your options and determine your best filing strategy.

Whether or not you remarry would have absolutely no effect on your ex's potential entitlement to Social Security benefits, either on his own record or on your record. Social Security is my only area of expertise, though, so I don't know if there might be any other ramifications to a remarriage.

Best, Jerry