Social Security spousal benefits not mentioned in approval letter - do I need to apply separately?

The SSA should automatically calculate whether you're better off with your own benefit or the spousal benefit (which would be up to 50% of your ex's PIA). Since you included his information on your application, they've already made this determination. If your approval letter only shows your own benefit amount, it's almost certainly because your own benefit is higher than what you'd get as a divorced spouse. A few things to understand: 1. The spousal/ex-spouse benefit maximum is 50% of his Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), not 50% of what he actually receives 2. His PIA is what he would receive at his Full Retirement Age, not the reduced amount he gets for claiming at 62 3. If your own benefit is even $1 more than the spousal benefit, you'll only receive your own If you want to verify, you can call SSA and specifically ask them to confirm they considered the ex-spouse benefit in their calculation.

congrats on getting approved! they should have checked both automatically since u gave all that info. my sister went thru this last yr and her own benefit was higher too even tho her ex made way more $$ than her. weird how ss math works!!

THEY NEVER TELL YOU EVERYTHING IN THOSE LETTERS!!! You absolutely need to CALL and specifically ASK about spousal benefits!!! My neighbor thought she was getting the right amount for 3 YEARS before finding out she should have been getting ex-spouse benefits the whole time!!! Social Security doesn't automatically give you what you deserve - YOU have to fight for it!!!

i think they probably already compared both and gave u the higher one. thats what they did for me last year when i applied. my ex made way more than me too but they said my own benefit was still higher cuz of something about the calculation and how long we were married. def call to check but dont stress too much til then

My wife just went through this whole process. The thing with spousal benefits is they're reduced if you take them early, just like regular retirement. So if your ex took his at 62, and you're taking yours before your FRA, the spousal benefit might not be as good as it sounds on paper. In our case, my wife's own benefit ended up being like $40 more than the spousal benefit would've been.

This is a common source of confusion. Here's what most likely happened: When you applied for benefits and provided your ex-spouse's information, the SSA system automatically compared two amounts: 1. Your own retirement benefit based on your work record 2. The divorced spouse benefit (up to 50% of your ex-husband's Primary Insurance Amount) The system then awards you the higher of these two amounts. If your approval letter only shows your own retirement benefit, it means your own benefit was higher than what you'd receive as a divorced spouse. You mentioned he made significantly more money, but remember that: - The divorced spouse benefit maxes out at 50% of his PIA - There's a formula for calculating benefits (90% of first portion of earnings, 32% of next portion, 15% of remainder) - Women often have lower lifetime earnings but the progressive formula helps boost the relative benefit amount This often results in a person's own benefit being higher than expected compared to a higher-earning spouse's record. For peace of mind, you can certainly call SSA to verify they considered both options.

Last year when I was applying for my benefits, I had a very similar situation with my ex-spouse's record. I provided all his info on my application but got confused when my award letter only mentioned my own benefit. When I finally got through to SSA after calling for THREE DAYS (busy signals, disconnects, you name it), they confirmed they had already checked both records and my own was higher by about $187/month. Definitely worth calling to confirm, but if you included his information on your initial application, they should have already determined which benefit is higher. The fact they didn't request marriage/divorce documents is probably another sign that your own benefit is higher (they typically request those documents when they need to process a spousal benefit).

When my sister applied last year, she got really confused about this too. She was sure she'd get more from her ex's record because he was some big shot executive. Turns out her own benefit was higher because she worked consistently for 35+ years while he had some gaps in his record. The SSA looks at your highest 35 years of earnings, so consistent work history can sometimes win out over a few high-earning years.

Thank you all for the helpful responses! I'm feeling much better now understanding that they likely did check both calculations already. I'll still call to verify (and try that Claimyr service someone mentioned since the wait times sound awful), but it makes sense that my own benefit might be higher even though my ex-husband earned more during his career. I've worked consistently for almost 40 years, so maybe that's why my own benefit ended up higher. The formula explanations really helped me understand how it all works. I'll update once I talk to SSA just in case it helps someone else with the same question!