Can I claim my deceased ex-husband's Social Security benefits after being divorced for years?
I've been receiving my own Social Security retirement benefits since I reached my full retirement age at 67. I'm now 70 and never remarried after my divorce. My ex-husband just passed away last week, and a friend mentioned I might be entitled to his Social Security benefits even though we've been divorced for decades. I'm pretty sure this isn't correct, but thought I'd check with people who might know more about these rules. We were married for 15 years before splitting up. Does anyone know if I'm eligible for any survivor benefits as an ex-spouse? The SSA website is confusing me!
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Freya Andersen
Yes, you are most likely eligible for survivor benefits as a divorced spouse! Since you were married for more than 10 years and haven't remarried, you qualify as a surviving divorced spouse. The SSA calls these "surviving divorced spouse benefits." Since you're already at FRA (and actually beyond at age 70), you can receive 100% of what your ex was receiving or would have received. You should contact SSA immediately because survivor benefits aren't retroactive for very long.
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Malik Jenkins
•Wait, really? I had no idea! But I'm already receiving my own benefit - does that mean I'd have to give that up? My monthly check is around $2,750 if that matters.
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Eduardo Silva
my mom went through this exact same thing!!!! she got her exs benefits when he died and they had been divorced for like 25 years. its totally a thing
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Leila Haddad
•This isn't always true! It depends on whether her own benefit is higher than the ex-spouse's benefit. Social Security doesn't let you stack benefits - you get the higher of the two. A lot of people get confused about this.
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Emma Johnson
You're eligible for whichever is higher - your own retirement benefit OR your ex-spouse's survivor benefit, but not both combined. If your ex was a high earner and received more than $2,750/month, you would get the difference added to your current benefit. Call the SSA to find out the exact amount he was receiving. For example, if he was getting $3,100/month, you would get an increase of $350/month ($3,100 - $2,750) for the rest of your life. Definitely worth looking into!
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Malik Jenkins
•Thank you, that makes sense! I'm not sure what he was receiving, but he had a good job with the state government for many years. I'll try to call SSA to find out if his benefit would be higher than mine.
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Ravi Patel
this happened to my aunt and she waited 6 months to apply and lost out on thousands!! dont wait to apply, they only backpay like 6 months i think
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Astrid Bergström
Since you mentioned calling the SSA, I'd highly recommend using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to avoid those ridiculous wait times. I spent 3 weeks trying to get through to SSA about my survivor benefits after my ex passed, and kept getting disconnected after waiting for hours. Claimyr got me connected to a real person in under 20 minutes. There's a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU - completely changed my experience with getting this sorted out.
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Malik Jenkins
•Thanks for the tip! I've tried calling SSA twice already and got disconnected both times after waiting over an hour. I'll check out that service.
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PixelPrincess
EVERYONE HERE IS GIVING WRONG INFO!!!! You can't get survivor benefits if you're divorced!!!! The marriage has to be current when they die!!!
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Freya Andersen
•That's incorrect. The Social Security Administration clearly states that divorced spouses can receive survivor benefits if the marriage lasted at least 10 years, the surviving divorced spouse is at least 60 (or 50 if disabled), and isn't currently married. This is directly from SSA's rules on surviving divorced spouse benefits.
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Malik Jenkins
Update: I finally got through to SSA! It turns out my ex-husband's benefit was $3,280, which is more than my current $2,750. They're processing the switch now and said I'll get the difference added to my monthly payments going forward. That's an extra $530 per month I wasn't expecting! Thank you all for the advice.
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Eduardo Silva
•congrats!!!! thats awesome :) :) :
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Leila Haddad
•Great outcome! Make sure they also pay you retroactively from his date of death. They should include that in your first increased payment.
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Ravi Patel
my neighbors ex died too and she got his benefits and bought a new car with the backpay lol
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