Are you eligible for an ex’s Social Security when you divorce?

Many people in Ohio are navigating divorces later in life. If you are among them, you may worry about whether you are going to be able to maintain your current lifestyle once you enter into retirement.

Per CNBC, many people do not realize that they may have the option of obtaining Social Security retirement benefits using the work history of a former husband or wife, rather than their own earnings records.

Who is eligible to do so

To be eligible for Social Security retirement benefits, you must have devoted a certain amount of time to working in a professional role where you contributed to the nation’s Social Security system. If your former spouse is eligible for these benefits based on work history but you are not, you may collect them under his or her name as long as your marriage lasted at least 10 years. However, if you remarry at some point, this puts a stop to your ability to collect these benefits using an ex-spouse’s name.

When it makes sense to do so

If you are also eligible for Social Security retirement benefits based on your own earnings record, you may have to do some computing to figure out how to maximize your monthly payment. If you collect these benefits using an ex-spouse’s earnings history, you may only get, at most, half of what your ex does. So, if you qualify for them, it is wise to figure out how much you would collect based on your own earnings record and then determine which amount would be higher.

If you do decide to collect spousal benefits using your former spouse’s work history, it does not lessen the amount your former partner gets each month.