Divorced mother with child in care - unreduced Social Security benefits at 62?
I'm trying to figure out my sister's potential benefits since her ex recently filed for Social Security. From what I understand, there's something called the "child-in-care" rule that might help her. She's 62 and has her 15-year-old disabled son (from that marriage) living with her. Currently, her son receives $235/month in benefits on his father's record. I saw that normally taking spousal benefits at 62 means a big reduction, but I found this rule that says: "A spouse's benefit is not reduced for any month in which the spouse or divorced spouse has an entitled child in care." If her ex's primary insurance amount is $3,416 (so 50% would be $1,708), would she actually get the full $1,708 at age 62 because of the child-in-care exception? Or am I misunderstanding something? The local SSA office gave her conflicting information when she called.
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Sofia Ramirez
I went through almost the exact same situation last year. Your sister absolutely qualifies for unreduced divorced spouse benefits if she has a child under 16 or disabled in her care. The child must be receiving benefits on the ex's record (which you said he is). The good news - she can get the full 50% of her ex's PIA without reduction! But here's the catch - if she has ANY earnings from work, she'll be subject to the earnings test until she reaches her full retirement age, which could reduce or eliminate the benefit temporarily.
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NebulaKnight
•Thank you for sharing your experience! That's really helpful. She works part-time at a doctor's office making about $16,000 a year. Will that affect the benefit amount?
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Dmitry Popov
wait i'm confused aint there a max family benefit? if the kid already gets $$ doesn't that mean she cant get the full 50%?? my cousin got less cuz of that family max thing
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Ava Rodriguez
•The Family Maximum does apply in many cases, but it works differently for divorced spouses. A divorced spouse's benefits are NOT counted against the family maximum on the worker's record. This is different from a current spouse, where the family maximum would include all beneficiaries on the same record. So, in this case, only the child's benefit would count toward the family maximum on the ex-husband's record, not the divorced mother's benefit.
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Miguel Ortiz
This is actually a commonly misunderstood benefit situation. Under SSA rules (specifically RS 00615.201), a divorced spouse with a child in care can indeed receive unreduced benefits before Full Retirement Age. The child must be entitled to benefits on the worker's record and be under 16 OR disabled. Since your sister's child is 15 and disabled, she qualifies under both criteria. However, as someone mentioned, the earnings limit is still in effect until she reaches her Full Retirement Age. For 2025, that limit is approximately $22,320. Since she earns less than that, she won't lose all benefits, but they may be reduced somewhat. The reduction is $1 for every $2 earned above the limit.
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NebulaKnight
•This is so helpful! So she'd qualify for the full $1,708 monthly benefit, but might see some reduction because of her earnings? Do you know if she needs to be the official representative payee for her son to qualify as having him "in care"?
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Zainab Khalil
SSA is so confusing!!! when i tried to do my widows benefits they kept me on the fone for like 2 hours just to tell me i had to wait. the whole system is messed up!
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Sofia Ramirez
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QuantumQuest
This is slightly off topic but I'm in a somewhat similar situation with my ex. Does anyone know if your ex's new spouse's income affects benefit calculations? My ex remarried someone who makes a lot of money and I'm wondering if that impacts what my kids can get on his record.
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Miguel Ortiz
•No, the current spouse's income has absolutely no impact on benefit calculations for children or ex-spouses receiving benefits on a worker's record. Benefits are calculated solely based on the worker's earnings record with Social Security. Your children's benefits would be based only on your ex's earnings record regardless of his new spouse's income.
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Connor Murphy
Wanted to add something important here - in this situation with a disabled child, your sister should also look into applying for SSI for the child if she hasn't already. SSI is need-based, so it depends on household income and resources, but it could provide additional support beyond just the $235 from the father's record. The child might qualify for both benefits simultaneously.
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NebulaKnight
•Thank you for mentioning this! He was on SSI when he was younger but got disqualified when his dad's SSDI kicked in. Maybe we should reapply since the benefit on his dad's record is so small.
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Ava Rodriguez
One critical thing that hasn't been mentioned: When the child turns 16, the "child-in-care" provision ends UNLESS the child is disabled. Since you mentioned the child is disabled, your sister can continue receiving unreduced benefits even after the child turns 16, as long as the child remains disabled and in her care. However, she'll need to provide documentation to SSA showing she's providing personal care to the disabled child - it's not automatic.
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Dmitry Popov
•oh wow didnt know that part. my niece had a disabled kid but she never got benefits after he turned 16 i think nobody told her about this rule
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Zainab Khalil
Does the ex have to be retired for her to get these benefits? My kid's father is 65 but still working and I'm 61 with our disabled daughter.
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Miguel Ortiz
•The ex-spouse must be entitled to retirement or disability benefits for you to collect divorced spouse benefits. If he's 65 but hasn't filed for his own benefits yet, you can't receive benefits on his record. However, if he's at least 62 and you've been divorced for at least 2 years, you may qualify under the "independently entitled divorced spouse" rule even if he hasn't filed yet.
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NebulaKnight
Thank you all for the great information! I've helped my sister make an appointment with SSA. We'll make sure to bring documentation about her son's disability status and her caregiving role. It sounds like she should be eligible for the full 50% without reduction, minus any adjustment for her part-time earnings. One last question - will she need her ex's SSN for the application or can SSA find that information based on her son's existing benefit?
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Ava Rodriguez
•Since her son is already receiving benefits on the ex's record, SSA already has all the necessary information linked in their system. She doesn't need to provide the ex's SSN again. But she should bring her own ID, the child's ID, proof of the child's disability (medical records, prior SSA determination letters), and documentation showing she provides care for the child. Also, having her divorce decree on hand may be helpful, though not always required if the relationship is already established in SSA's system through the child's benefit.
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