Will Social Security spousal benefits apply in long-term separation? Worried about retirement options

The good news is that being separated (but still legally married) doesn't affect your eligibility for Social Security spousal or survivor benefits. To qualify for spousal benefits, you must be married for at least 1 year, and for survivor benefits, you need to be married at least 9 months (with some exceptions). Since you're still legally married despite the long separation, you qualify for both. For spousal benefits, you can receive up to 50% of your husband's Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) if you claim at your Full Retirement Age. If your own benefit is higher than 50% of his, you'll just get your own benefit. If you claim spousal benefits before your FRA, they'll be permanently reduced. For survivor benefits, if your husband passes away, you would be eligible to receive his full benefit amount if it's higher than your own (not in addition to your own - you get the higher of the two). The timing of when he claims wouldn't affect your survivor benefit amount. Since you don't know his earnings history, I'd recommend creating a my Social Security account and checking your own estimated benefits first. Then consider contacting SSA directly to discuss your specific situation.

my mom was in similar situation and SSA wouldn't tell her anything about her ex's benefits until she actually filed for benefits. privacy rules or somethin. she had to just apply and then they told her what she'd get from his record. ended up being like $300 more a month than her own benefit so def worth checking

Just to clarify something important - he's not your ex since you never divorced! He's still legally your spouse even with the separation. This matters because ex-spouse benefits require a 10-year marriage, but current spouse benefits only require 1 year of marriage. So you're actually in a better position benefit-wise by staying married. If your husband has been working steadily these past 8 years, his benefit could be decent, especially if he waits until his Full Retirement Age to claim. The real question is whether 50% of his benefit would exceed your own benefit amount. And yes - if he passes away before you, you would be eligible for 100% of whatever he was receiving (or entitled to receive if he hadn't claimed yet). This is often MUCH more beneficial than the spousal benefit, which is capped at 50% of his amount.

Has anyone else tried calling the SS office lately?? I tried for TWO DAYS to get through about a similar spousal benefit question and kept getting disconnected or waiting for hours!!! The website doesn't explain these complicated situations at all. So frustrating!!

Glad someone mentioned phone issues!! Been trying to reach SSA for a week about my disability appeal. Will check out that service.

This doesn't answer your question exactly, but you might want to really think through claiming at 63 vs waiting til your FRA. With health issues it's tempting to claim early but the reduction is PERMANENT. Also, those survivor benefits you mentioned - if your husband's benefit ends up higher than yours and he passes away, you'd get his FULL benefit amount (assuming you're at or past FRA when you claim the survivor benefit). The difference between your reduced benefit and a full benefit could be hundreds of dollars every month for the rest of your life.

To answer one of your specific questions - it doesn't matter whether your husband takes his benefit at 62 or FRA when it comes to YOUR spousal benefit calculation. The spousal benefit is based on his Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), which is what he would get at his FRA regardless of when he actually claims. However, if you're on a spousal benefit and he hasn't filed yet, you can't receive the spousal benefit until he files for his own retirement benefit. This is what's called "deemed filing" - you can't pick and choose which benefits to receive anymore (rules changed in 2015). With the health issues you mentioned, you might also want to explore SSDI as an option if your condition is severe enough. That way you could receive your full benefit amount rather than the reduced early retirement amount.

whatever u do DONT sign any divorce papers now!!! my aunt did that right before retirement age and lost out on thousands in benefits from her ex

One more thing to consider - Medicare and Medicaid eligibility can sometimes be affected by spousal income even if you're separated. If you're approaching Medicare age, you should check if your husband's income could affect your premiums (IRMAA) or Medicaid eligibility. Since you're still legally married, his income could potentially be counted in certain circumstances.

Just to add one more point - if you do decide to apply for benefits based on your husband's record, you'll need to provide: 1) your marriage certificate, 2) both your Social Security numbers, and 3) his date of birth. If you don't have his SSN, SSA can usually find it with his name and date of birth. You don't need to communicate with him directly to apply for spousal benefits. SSA has this information in their system and can verify your relationship status when you apply.

I'm in a somewhat similar situation - married but separated for about 10 years now. One thing I learned when I went through this research last year is that you can actually receive spousal benefits even if your husband hasn't filed for his own benefits yet, as long as he's eligible to receive them (meaning he's at least 62). This is called "independently entitled" spousal benefits. Also, since you mentioned health concerns, you might want to look into whether you could qualify for Medicare early due to disability. If you can get on Medicare before 65, it might help with those health issues and potentially influence your decision about when to claim Social Security. The separation length really doesn't matter as long as you're still legally married. I know it feels weird after being apart so long, but legally you're still spouses with all the same benefit rights as any married couple.