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Last weekend, the fantastic Rob Berger shared one of my Social Security articles with his audience.
You can subscribe to Rob’s newsletter here…I do!
And you can read my article here: Should the Higher-Earning Spouse Delay Social Security?
I received some awesome questions on that article from you guys and from Rob’s audience. But beneath a few of those questions, many people made a common mistake:
Spousal benefits and Survivor benefits are NOT the same thing in the Social Security world!
So let’s amend that today, and we’ll include Divorced Spouse benefits (or just “Divorced”) as well. If you are (or were) married, what do you need to know about the special Social Security benefits that affect your retirement plan?
The Basics – Spousal vs. Survivor vs. Divorced Benefits
Let’s cover the basics first.
I think Survivor benefits are the simplest to understand and the most common benefits that retirees interact with. Survivor benefits are monthly payments available to the spouse, former spouse, or dependents of a deceased worker who has earned enough Social Security credits.
When someone dies, Survivor benefits might be in play.
Spousal benefits are different. Spousal benefits allow a lower-earning or non-working spouse to receive up to 50% of their partner’s full Social Security retirement benefit, based on the partner’s work record.
Example: Mary was a homemaker while John ran ACME Corp for 30 years. Their personal work records show John has a $4000 per month Social Security benefit. Mary, with no work record, has no Social Security benefit. BUT that’s where the Spousal benefit kicks in. When John starts collecting his benefit, Mary can begin collecting 50% – or $2000 per month – of Spousal benefit.
(And then – if John dies first – Mary would then begin collecting John’s full $4000 per month Survivor benefit. But we’ll come back to that later)
Divorced benefits are, I believe, the most nuanced. We’ll cover all the little details later. But as you might guess: if you’re divorced from a previous spouse, you might be eligible to claim Social Security benefits based on their work record.
And before anyone gets too worried or upset, none of these benefits creates a “negative” for the other spouse. Spousal benefits to the lower earner do not harm the larger earner’s benefits. The same goes for Divorced benefits.
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Survivor Benefits
Social Security Survivor benefits provide monthly payments to eligible family members (not just spouses!) after a worker who earned enough Social Security credits dies. Eligible recipients include widows, widowers, ex-spouses (if the marriage lasted at least 10 years), minor children, and dependent parents.
Who Can Claim Survivor Benefits and When?
A surviving spouse can claim benefits as early as age 60 (or age 50 if they are disabled). If the surviving spouse claims at their full retirement age, they receive the full survivor benefit. Claiming early reduces the monthly amount.
Survivor benefits are separate from your own retirement benefits. You generally receive the higher of your own benefit or the Survivor benefit. A surviving spouse may switch from the Survivor benefit to their own retirement benefit at a later age if it results in a higher payment.
Strategic claiming can maximize lifetime benefits, especially for couples with large age gaps or differing life expectancies.
A surviving ex-spouse abides by age 60 (or 50 if disabled), too. BUT, they also must meet the criteria for Divorced benefits. We’ll cover those below.
For minor children and dependent parents to collect Survivor benefits, the criteria are more nuanced.
First, for minor children:
- They are eligible if under age 18 (or 19 if still in high school).
- The child must be the biological child, adopted child, or dependent stepchild of the deceased worker.
- The child can receive up to 75% of the deceased parent’s benefit. Multiple children typically cause this 75% benefit to be divided among them. There’s also a maximum family benefit (~150% to 180% of the deceased’s benefit) that can limit the amount of benefit a child receives.
- The Survivor benefits stop when the child reaches the age limit (18 or 19), unless they are disabled.
For dependent parents:
- The parent must be 62 or older.
- They must have been receiving at least half of their financial support from the deceased worker. You need to have records and proof of this. It’s not exactly clean.
- The dependent parent can receive up to 82.5% of the deceased worker’s benefit. This benefit is divided among all eligible parents, and is also subject to the same ~150% – 180% family limit described before.
A large number of you will encounter situations where Survivor benefits impact you as a surviving spouse. Far fewer of you will encounter situations where minor children or dependent parents will impact your financial plan. But it’s possible.
If you encounter a situation where multiple Survivor benefits are impacting your family at the same time, I recommend taking your time and/or consulting a financial planner (or other Social Security expert) to ensure you optimize your available benefits.
Spousal Benefits
Social Security Spousal benefits provide income security for a lower-earning or non-working spouse, ensuring they receive a meaningful portion of the household’s Social Security retirement benefit. These benefits recognize and protect the economic value of caregiving and other household contributions made outside the workforce.
What Are the Details of Spousal Benefits?
This explanation gets much simpler if we give our two spouses more specific names. We’ll call the high-earning spouse “High Spouse” and the low-earning spouse “Low Spouse.”
For Low Spouse to collect a Spousal benefit, High Spouse must have already filed for their own Social Security benefit. If High Spouse is waiting for age 67 or age 70 to file, Low Spouse cannot receive a Spousal benefit yet. Low Spouse can still file and collect their own benefit. And, depending on their circumstances, Low Spouse might “step up” into a Spousal benefit when High Spouse does eventually file.
If Low Spouse qualifies for both their own benefit and a Spousal benefit, they receive their own benefit first. Social Security will top it up to the Spousal amount if required.
Low Spouse does not need their own work record to qualify for Spousal benefits, but High Spouse must have earned at least 40 Social Security credits.
The Spousal benefit can be up to 50% of the High Spouse’s full retirement age (FRA) benefit. But if Low Spouse files early for Social Security, their Spousal benefit gets reduced (following the same reduction math as normal Social Security benefits).
In other words, the Spousal benefit is based on two simple factors: High Spouse’s FRA benefit, and Low Spouse’s age when they file.
To be clear, Spousal benefits are totally separate from Survivor benefits. A widow/widower may switch to Survivor benefits if that amount is higher (and it almost always will be!).
Divorced Benefits
A divorced person may be eligible for Social Security benefits based on their ex-spouse’s work record, but only if certain conditions are met.
What Are the Conditions of Divorced Benefits?
You may claim benefits on your ex-spouse’s work record if all the following are met:
- The marriage lasted at least 10 years.
- You must be currently unmarried unless your second, third, etc. marriage also ended in divorce, or death, or annulment. In this case, you still might qualify for Divorced benefits based on an earlier spouse’s work record.
- Your ex must be at least 62 years old for you to claim BUT they don’t need to have filed for their own benefit if you’ve been divorced for two or more years. You are eligible regardless of whether your ex-spouse has claimed, as long as they’re old enough.
The maximum you can receive is up to 50% of your ex’s full retirement age (FRA) benefit. It’s similar to a Spousal benefit in that way. If your own retirement benefit is larger than your Divorced benefit, you’ll receive your own benefit instead.
Your benefit amount does not get reduced if your ex gets remarried. But if you remarry, you lose eligibility to claim on your ex’s record. Claiming divorced spousal benefits does not reduce what your ex-spouse (or their new family) receives.
Earlier, in the Survivor benefit section, we alluded to Divorced survivor benefits. These occur if your ex-spouse has died, and can be up to 100% of their benefit, provided the marriage lasted at least 10 years.
Your relationships matter!
Make sure you understand how Survivor benefits, Spousal benefits, and Divorced benefits might affect your retirement plan.
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