Can I still claim Social Security ex-spouse benefits after remarrying? My ex's SS will be higher than my current spouse's
I've been trying to figure this out but keep getting conflicting info from friends. I was married to my first husband for 18 years (divorced 3 years ago). I'm currently 50 and remarried about 3 years ago. The thing is, my ex-husband made really good money throughout his career while my current husband has had a more modest income. I've worked on and off but mostly part-time jobs while raising kids. My question is: since my ex will likely have much higher Social Security benefits than both me and my current husband, am I still eligible to claim any portion of my ex's Social Security? I know there's some kind of 10-year marriage rule, and we were married well over that (18 years), but does my remarriage cancel out my eligibility? My ex isn't remarried currently and probably won't be anytime soon. I'm trying to plan ahead since retirement isn't that far off. Thanks for any help!
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Ahooker-Equator
Sorry to say, but remarriage generally eliminates your eligibility for ex-spouse benefits. From what I understand, once you remarry, you can only claim spousal benefits based on your current spouse's record, not your ex's. The 10-year rule only applies if you remain unmarried.
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Abigail bergen
•Oh no, that's disappointing... I was hoping the length of my first marriage might still count for something. So there's absolutely no exception?
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Anderson Prospero
The previous commenter is correct. According to SSA rules, if you remarry, you generally cannot collect benefits on your former spouse's record unless your later marriage ends (by death, divorce, or annulment). However, there's an important exception you should know about: If you're receiving survivor benefits (which would only be applicable if your ex-spouse passed away), AND you remarry after age 60 (or age 50 if disabled), you can continue receiving those survivor benefits. But since your ex is still living and you remarried before age 60, you unfortunately cannot receive spousal benefits based on his record while you remain married to your current spouse.
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Abigail bergen
•Thank you for the detailed explanation. This makes it clearer, even though it's not the answer I was hoping for. Do you know if this would change if my current marriage ended at some point?
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Anderson Prospero
Yes, if your current marriage were to end (through divorce, annulment, or death), you could become eligible again to claim on your ex-spouse's record, assuming you meet all other requirements (like not being entitled to a higher benefit on your own record). Since you were married to your ex for 18 years, you easily satisfy the 10-year duration requirement. If you remain unmarried after your current marriage ends, you could claim up to 50% of your ex's full retirement benefit when you reach your Full Retirement Age (FRA). Just to be thorough - you should also compare what you'd get on your own work record. If your own benefit would be higher than 50% of your ex's, you'd receive your own benefit instead.
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Tyrone Hill
•my aunt got remarried and she still gets some benefits from her deadbeat first husband who never paid child support but had a good job with the railroad. the rules are SO confusing!
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Toot-n-Mighty
Honestly, the SSA phone lines are IMPOSSIBLE to get through!!! I tried calling about my own ex-spouse benefits last month and spent 3+ hours on hold before getting disconnected. TWICE. Finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual SSA agent in under 20 minutes. They have a demo video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU Totally worth it for peace of mind on something this important. The agent confirmed exactly what others are saying here - remarriage cancels ex-spouse benefits unless the new marriage ends. But at least I got a definitive answer from an actual SSA employee.
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Abigail bergen
•Thanks for the tip about Claimyr! I've been planning to call SSA directly, but was dreading the wait times I've heard about. I'll check out that service since I'd really like an official answer about my specific situation.
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Lena Kowalski
Just to add some practical advice for your retirement planning: Since you're 50 now, you still have time to build up your own Social Security record. Even part-time work contributes to your lifetime earnings record, and SSA uses your highest 35 years of earnings. Also, when retirement approaches, look closely at coordinating benefits with your current husband. If your own benefit is less than 50% of your current husband's, you'd be eligible for spousal benefits to make up the difference. You and your current spouse should consider timing strategies - sometimes it makes sense for the lower earner to claim earlier and the higher earner to delay (increasing their benefit by 8% per year from FRA to age 70).
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Abigail bergen
•This is great advice, thank you! I hadn't thought much about building up my own record more. I'm still working part-time, so I should probably consider increasing my hours if possible.
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DeShawn Washington
just went thru this myself!!!! my sister told me I could get my exs SS even tho im remarried but SSA said NO WAY. so frustrating cause we were married 22 yrs and he made wayyyy more than me or my new hubby. seems unfair but thats the rule i guess
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Abigail bergen
•I know, it does seem unfair! Especially when you were married for so many years and possibly made career sacrifices during that time. Thanks for sharing your experience.
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Mei-Ling Chen
Everyone keeps talking about spousal benefits during retirement, but what about if your ex-husband dies? The rules are different for widow(er) benefits versus divorced spouse benefits! If your ex passes away, and your current marriage happened after you turned 60, you can actually still claim survivor benefits on your ex's record!!!!!! I found this out when helping my mom with her benefits.
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Anderson Prospero
•You're absolutely right about survivor benefits being different, but there's an important clarification needed here. The original poster is only 50 and already remarried, so this exception wouldn't apply in her current situation. She would need to be at least 60 (or 50 if disabled) at the time of remarriage to preserve potential survivor benefits from an ex-spouse. But it's good information for others reading this thread who might be in different circumstances - the remarriage after 60 exception is specifically for survivor benefits, not for ex-spouse benefits while the ex is still alive.
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Tyrone Hill
have you checked whether you can get benefits based on YOUR work record? my friend thought her ex would give her more but turned out her own SS was actually better!!!
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Abigail bergen
•That's a good point! I should definitely check my own record. I've worked on and off for about 25 years, though many years were part-time. I'll create a my Social Security account and check my estimated benefits.
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Ahooker-Equator
I wish they would make these rules simpler to understand. It's like they WANT us to mess up our retirement planning! When my mom retired, she had no idea she could have gotten more by waiting until her FRA. Now she's stuck with a permanently reduced benefit. The whole system feels rigged sometimes.
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DeShawn Washington
•omg same with my aunt!! she took SS at 62 and now gets like $300 less EVERY MONTH than if she waited. nobody told her and she cant go back and change it. so messed up!!!
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