Does An Ex-Wife Get An Ex-Husband’S Social Security Benefits?
The Social Security Administration provides American citizens with retirement benefits once they reach the age of 62. These benefits are doled out according to work experience and generally go directly to the retired person. However, a former spouse may qualify for their ex’s SSI payments according to the Social Security Administration.
Several requirements must first be met.
<ul>
<li>The couple must have been married for at least 10 years.</li>
<li>The ex-wife must be of legal retirement age, 62, or older.</li>
<li>She is unmarried.</li>
<li>Or the ex-wife must be supporting her ex’s child under the age of 16.</li>
<li>The benefits she would received for her former husband are greater than the benefits she would receive from her own work history.</li>
</ul>
In some cases, an ex-wife may qualify for both her own Social Security benefits and benefits from her ex-husband. In these cases, the Social Security Administration will first pay her own personal benefits.
An ex-wife can apply for her ex-husband’s SSI even if he is alive and has not applied for them himself. The divorce must be finalized for more than two years. However, she also has the right to apply for SSI benefits from her deceased ex-husband as long as she still meets the requirements listed above with the exception of remarriage. An ex-wife who remarries after the age of 60 will still be able to receive the same SSI benefits for her deceased ex as she would had they been married when he died.
The Social Security Administration will limit benefits based on several things. These include whether the ex-wife is working and whether she opted for partial retirement payout benefits before reaching the age of retirement. In the latter case, the benefit amount will not be increased even after she reaches the age of retirement. Finally, Social Security benefits may be affected for an ex-wife who receives another form of pension after she reaches the age of retirement.
Any ex-husband who wants to control his own retirement benefits should apply for those benefits as soon as he reaches the age of retirement to prevent an ex-wife from accessing those funds.
