My marriage lasted 9 years and 8 months, not the 10 years required for spousal benefits. Are there any exceptions to the 10-year rule, or do I suffer twice?

Hi,

No, there are no exceptions to the 10-year duration of marriage requirement for divorced spousal benefits. I assume that's what you're asking about, even though you mention spousal benefits rather than divorced spousal benefits. If you do mean spousal benefits, though, the duration of marriage requirement for those benefits is only 1 year, and there are exceptions to that requirement for current spouses who are either the mother of the worker's child or who were drawing Social Security benefits as a dependent when they married the worker (https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.03/handbook-0305.html).

This probably doesn't apply in your case, but there is a quirky rule that permits some divorced spouses to meet the 10 year duration of marriage requirement even if they were actually married for a total of less than 10 years. That rule only applies, though, to divorced spouses who were married to and divorced from the same worker twice. Specifically, If a couple divorce and then remarry in either the same calendar year or in the calendar year that immediately follows the year of their divorce, the marriages are considered continuous when determining whether or not they meet the 10-year duration of marriage requirement for divorced spousal benefits.

For example, say Dick & Jane get married on July 1 2000, and divorce on January 1 2005. If Dick & Jane remarry no later than December 31 2006, their marriages would be considered as continuous for purposes of meeting the 10-year duration of marriage requirement for divorced spousal benefits. Thus, if Dick & Jane subsequently divorce for a second time on July 1 2010 or later, they would be considered to meet the 10-year duration of marriage requirement for divorced spousal benefits (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0300202005).

Best, Jerry