I am 61 , my ex husband is 56. We are divorced but were married for 20 years. Hiss income is and was higher than mine during our lifetime as I stayed home many years to raise children. If I claim my benefits at 62 will I be able to switch to spousal benefits later when he becomes eligible? And how do I determine which is higher: mine or my spousal amount or is that determined automatically by SSA?

Hi,

You couldn't switch to drawing just a spousal benefit after applying for your own benefits, but you might be able to qualify for an excess divorced spousal benefit at some point. In order to qualify for an excess divorced spousal benefit in addition to your own benefit, your primary insurance amount (PIA) would have to be less than 50% of your ex's PIA. A person's PIA is equal to the amount of their Social Security retirement benefit if they start drawing at full retirement age (FRA).

Since you were born after January 1 1954, you couldn't file for your own benefits without also being deemed to file for divorced spousal benefits. Therefore, if you claim your own Social Security retirement benefits at age 62 you'll automatically also be considered to have filed for divorced spousal benefits as soon as you could first qualify for those benefits. You wouldn't qualify for divorced spousal benefits, though, at least until your ex reaches age 62 or he starts drawing Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits.

You could use our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to get an estimate of your own benefit rate, but you'd likely need to contact Social Security in order to find out if you might qualify for additional divorced spousal benefits. Unless your husband is drawing SSDI, though, they probably won't be able to tell you whether or not you'd be eligible for divorced spousal benefits until your ex reaches age 62.

Best, Jerry