If your age is 62 or older and you had a former marriage withstands at least ten years, and you have not re-married yet, you may be eligible to collect social security benefits. It is based on the income of your ex-spouse. If you don’t have qualifying earnings over your lifetime, this rule gets you more money in your pocket. For this process, you can take help from a Knoxville divorce attorney.
In this blog, you will know how you can get benefits and how much you can expect to obtain from social security.
Social Security Eligibility
To get benefits of Social Security on a former spouse’s earning record, a divorced spouse must meet these requirements:
- Your marriage lasts at least upto ten years or more.
- Your age should be 62 or more.
- You should not be currently married.
- As a former spouse, you should be entitled to receive Social Security retirement or disability benefits when the former spouse applies.
Benefits of collecting social security
You can receive advantages on an ex-spouse record if you have been divorced for at least two continuous years. And the ex-spouse has not applied for benefits of retirement but can qualify for them. If you are eligible for retirement advantages on your record, the Social Security Administration will pay you the amount first. If the advantage on your ex-spouse’s record is higher, you will get an extra amount so that the combination equals that more elevated amount.
If you reached full retirement age, then you can select to get only the divorced spouse benefit. And hinder receiving your own retirement benefit until a later date. If you are filing for one benefit, you will be filing for all retirement or spousal benefits.
While receiving benefits, the same earnings restriction applies to you and your ex-spouse if you continue to work. If you are permitted for benefits this year and working too, our divorce attorney Knoxville TN will tell how your earnings would affect those payments.
A divorced spouse is qualified for a Social Security benefit that’s identical to 50% of the ex-spouse’s retirement interest even if the ex-spouse has re-married. If the spouse is dead, the former partner will be eligible for a survivor’s benefit upto 100% of the amount. In other cases, the divorced spouse should have reached its full retirement age to obtain (50% or 100%) benefits.
If any of the spouse’s files before reaching retirement age, it will permanently reduce the benefit. It is true for anyone applying for Social Security old-age benefits, or you can consider it when dividing property for divorce.
If the divorced spouse was married and they had divorced more than once, and each marriage lasted the requirement of ten years, then the person is qualified to the higher of the two benefits, but not both. Even if the former spouse re-marries and the new spouse is collecting Social Security benefits based on that person’s work record, the ex-partner can also collect it based on that record.
When your Ex isn’t collecting benefits yet
If your ex-spouse has not yet requested retirement benefits but qualifies for them, you can receive benefits that are based on the ex-spouse earnings record, provided you meet the other needs and have been divorced for at least or more than two years.
How to register for benefits as a divorced spouse
You can apply for benefits with Knoxville Divorce attorney TN’s help or make an appointment at your local Social Security office. You need to request benefits on a former spouse’s work record. And for that, you will need to have that person’s Social Security number or date and place of birth and parent’s names.
When you request spousal benefits as a divorced spouse, Social Security will assume you apply for your own employment record benefits. Also, you’ll be permitted for the higher amount of the two. If your interest is lower, Social Security will pay you based on your record. Compose the difference between what you are eligible for on your ex-spouse’s record.
Unmarried children
An unmarried child of the dead may be eligible to receive Social Security benefits if one of the following scenarios register:
- If they are a full-time student in an elementary or secondary school, as they are young below 18 years of age, or up to age 19.
- They are of age 18 or older with any disability that starts before the age of 22.
Bottom Line:
If you were hitched for a minimum of ten years, you could gather Social Security benefits based on your ex’s work record. If you can meet the requirements, you can receive as much as 50% of your ex’s retirement benefit. This is a very straightforward process when you are filing for these benefits with a Knoxville divorce attorney’s help. Also, to secure your privacy, your ex-spouse won’t be notified when you do.