Hi Larry. I am someway confused and need some help . My husband of 40+ years filed for divorce. He was born latter part of 1954 and I was born in 1958.
I will spare you the drastic details as it really has no bearing on your answers. It’s a circus more or less, and it appears my spouse is determined to leave me with nothing whether it be possessions or any income. I honestly don’t have a clue as to why but nonetheless it’s the case.

Currently both of us collect disability retirement. Yes both of us are disabled but in different capacities. Should I have been collecting spousal amount all along or does this only come into play- If he passes? Also, since we are in the midst of divorcing will I be able to claim spousal benefit and if so, when. Can I now before divorce is final or no?

My social security amount is half of what his is primarily because I worked part time, as to be there to attend to our children. If you could please answer this I’d be very grateful. I’m a little confused looking at your examples shown above. Thank you for reading this, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Hi. You couldn't have qualified for spousal benefits prior age 62 unless you had a child in your care who was eligible for benefits on your husband's record. Now that you're over age 62 you could apply for spousal benefits, but you'll only qualify if your primary insurance amount (PIA) is less than half as much as your husband's PIA. A person's PIA is equal to their Social Security retirement benefit rate if they start drawing their benefits at full retirement age (FRA), or their full Social Security disability (SSDI) benefit rate. And, if you do qualify for spousal or divorced spousal benefits and if you start drawing them prior to your full retirement age (FRA), your spousal/divorced spousal benefit rate will be reduced for age.

Since you've been married for more than 10 years, your divorce won't have any type of impact on your ability to collect benefits from your husband's account. Either way, if your full SSDI rate is at least half or more of the amount of your husband's full SSDI rate, then you won't be eligible for either spousal or divorced spousal benefits unless your husband increases his PIA by returning to work. However, if your husband dies before you, then it sounds like you'd be eligible for survivor benefits.

By the way, when I refer to your full SSDI rate, I'm talking about the amount before any deductions. If your benefit amount is roughly half of your husband's benefit rate, you might want to check with Social Security to find out for sure whether or not your actual PIA is more than half as much as your husband's PIA.

Best, Jerry