Divorced? How Your Social Security Benefits May Be Affected

Planning for retirement can become more complicated after a divorce.

“The division of retirement assets in a divorce settlement can alter the “bucket of money” available,” warns Jill Fletcher, CFP® practitioner and a Financial Advisor with Cary Street Partners financial planning firm. If you don’t adjust your planning, this can lead to a different retirement timeline than you initially anticipated.

Another major impact divorce can have on retirement is how you claim your Social Security benefits. Divorce doesn’t prevent you from claiming benefits based on your ex-spouse’s work record. It does, however, impact when and how you can claim them.

Social Security Spousal Benefits for Divorced Spouses

You can claim Social Security based on an ex-spouse’s work record if you:

• Were married for at least 10 years
• Have been divorced for 2 consecutive years
• Are age 62 or older OR
• Are caring for a child of your ex-spouse who is age 15 or younger or who has a disability
• Haven’t remarried

Your ex-spouse must be eligible for benefits before you can claim based on their work record, which means they must also be at least age 62.

Spousal benefits claimed after a divorce can be up to 50% of your ex-spouse’s full retirement age benefits. Fletcher notes that this can’t be an amount that’s greater than your own Social Security benefits. If it is, you will need to claim benefits based on your work record instead.

Social Security Survivor Benefits for Divorced Spouses

If your ex-spouse has passed away, you may apply for survivor benefits as early as age 60 (or age 50 if you are disabled). You then have the option of switching to your own benefit as early as age 62.

Alternatively, you could start taking your own Social Security benefits starting at age 62, then switch over to your survivor benefits when you reach full retirement age (FRA) if those benefits will be higher than your benefits.

Payments start at 71.5% of your ex-spouse’s benefits and increase the longer you wait to apply. You can get up to 100% of your ex-spouse’s benefit when you reach FRA, which is usually age 66 or 67.

You can apply for survivor benefits from an ex-spouse’s work record if you:

• Were married for at least 10 years before you divorced
• Didn’t remarry before age 60 (or age 50 if you have a disability)

The Bottom Line

“Divorce is a highly emotional life transition and can have significant impacts on retirement savings [and] planning,” says Fletcher.

However, it won’t stop you from claiming Social Security benefits, either based on your work record or your ex-spouse’s.

A financial planner can help you determine when and how you should claim Social Security benefits to maximize your income in retirement.