Social Security Rules If Marriage Ends Before 10 Years

Before 1979, Social Security required a marriage to last 20 years for a divorced or surviving divorced wife to qualify for benefits, leaving many women without support as they approached retirement. The Social Security Amendments of 1977 reduced this requirement to 10 years, ensuring women in long-term marriages could claim spousal or survivor benefits. This is why divorce attorneys should know and preserve rights by not divorcing clients in less than ten years if at all possible—and yes, you must have hit 10 full years; nine years, eleven months, and twenty-nine days = no benefit.

Understanding the 10-year rule is just the first step. From there, it’s important to know how eligibility works, how timing and filing affect benefits, and what exceptions can influence the amount you ultimately receive.

Benefits After Divorce

Your marriage lasted over 10 years, and even after divorce, Social Security can still help you—but only if your marriage lasted at least 10 years. At 62, you are entitled to as much as one-half of what your ex would have gotten at full retirement age, which could make a nice addition to your retirement income. Of course, your own work record still counts, but spousal benefits are a bonus—only in cases of long-term marriages.

If Your Ex Has Not Filed for Benefits

Timing can be an issue if your ex has not yet filed for divorce. If you’re divorced, you may have to wait at least two years after the divorce before you can file for spousal benefits. Under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, if you are eligible for both your own retirement benefits and spousal benefits, SSA will consider that you filed for both benefits (also known as “deemed filing”) and will pay you the greater of the two.

A common fear is that an ex will be able to block benefits. But remember that SSA makes its determination of eligibility based on its records, not on an applicant’s consent. Objections from your ex or a failure to cooperate with SSA generally do not prevent you from being entitled to benefits. You will need to provide documentation, such as marriage and divorce certificates, as well as your ex’s SSN.

Remarrying Before Age 60

If you remarry before age 60, you generally forfeit spousal or survivor benefits on your former spouse’s record, even if your previous marriage lasted more than 10 years. If you remarry after age 60, those benefits are typically unaffected.

Caring for a Child Under 16 or a Disabled Child

If you are caring for a child under 16 or a child with a disability from the marriage, there’s an exception to the 10-year rule. SSA will pay spousal or survivor benefits on the worker’s record even if the marriage lasted less than 10 years. The exception to the 10-year rule also mingles with deemed filing: you can get spousal benefits while you are caring for a child without having to claim your own retirement benefits at the same time.

Benefits for a Former Spouse

Social Security offers survivor benefits if your ex dies, but only if the two of you were married for at least 10 years. An ex-spouse may be eligible for as much as 100% of the deceased’s benefits beginning at age 60 (or 50 if disability applies). Survivor benefits can offer important financial support if your marriage lasted a long time. (Note that the deemed filing rules do not apply to survivor benefits, so you can file for survivor benefits regardless of whether you have filed for your own retirement benefits.)

Entitlements You Earn on Your Own Are Always an Option

Whether you were married before or not, you are always entitled to the Social Security benefits you earned on your own record. If you have a lengthy work history, you will qualify for retirement benefits based on your own earnings, regardless of your marital history. Although the marriage may have ended 10 years ago, you were still contributing to your own record during your work history, so your own record serves as your baseline.

Timing: Age and Filing Status Considerations

Age is also a factor to consider in Social Security planning after divorce. Claiming early at 62 will reduce your benefit for life, while delaying past full retirement age will increase your monthly benefit. Thanks to the voluntary suspension rule (formerly known as “file and suspend”), some workers can suspend their benefits, allowing their retirement benefits to grow even further.

However, under the law changes in 2015, most spousal benefits must be suspended if the worker suspends their retirement benefits, except in the case of divorced spouses (divorced spousal benefits are still allowed even if your ex-spouse voluntarily suspends). It’s essential to understand how these rules interact so that you can optimize lifetime benefits and coordinate your timing with your ex-spouse’s filing status.

Collecting as Multiple Spouses

More than one person may collect benefits as a spouse or ex-spouse on the same person’s Social Security record if they are each eligible. The rules require that an ex-spouse have been married for at least 10 years. A spouse who is still married to the primary worker typically must have been married for at least one year.

If you and your former spouse both qualify for a benefit as a spouse or ex-spouse, you each can collect a benefit based on the same individual’s record, and one person’s benefit will not be reduced because the other is collecting. The formula for spousal benefits is complicated, but in general, each spouse may qualify for about half of the primary worker’s benefits while that person is alive. When the primary worker dies, both ex-spouses and the surviving spouse can receive up to 100% of the deceased’s benefit, but the original worker’s benefits are not reduced while the worker is alive.

This rule allows Social Security to provide lifetime financial support to multiple spouses or ex-spouses without reducing the primary worker’s retirement benefits.

Government Pension Offset and Insufficient Work Credits

In some cases, statutory limitations like the Government Pension Offset (GPO) can reduce or eliminate your Social Security benefits even if you’ve met the 10-year marriage requirement. The GPO applies if your ex-spouse was employed by the federal, state, or local government in a job that didn’t pay Social Security taxes. In this situation, your divorced-spouse benefit may be reduced or eliminated because you cannot “double dip” on both a government pension and Social Security.

Another statutory limitation that can prevent an ex-spouse from receiving a benefit is called insufficient work credits. If your ex-spouse didn’t earn enough Social Security credits while working over their lifetime, there may be little to no spouse-based benefit to be had.

In both of these cases, there is a structural limitation to your ex-spouse’s Social Security that is not up to their personal consent or conduct. It’s essential to understand how these rules may apply to you early on, so you can have realistic expectations and be better prepared when you decide to file for your benefits.

Why investing for retirement is so important for women (and how to do it)

Why investing for retirement is so important for women (and how to do it)

Retirement planning can be challenging, especially for women who face unique obstacles such as the wage gap, caregiving responsibilities, and a longer life expectancy. It’s essential for women to educate themselves on financial literacy and overcome the investing gap to achieve a comfortable and secure retirement. So, let’s talk about why investing for retirement is important for women and how to start on this journey towards financial freedom.