Yes, a spouse can get Social Security on their husband’s or wife’s work record, even with little or no earnings history of their own. A living spouse can receive up to 50 percent of the worker’s full retirement benefit, and a surviving spouse can receive up to 100 percent.1Social Security Administration. Benefits for Spouses What you actually qualify for depends on whether you’re currently married, divorced, or widowed, and each situation carries its own rules on age, marriage length, and timing.
If You Are Currently Married
To claim on a living spouse’s record, you generally need to be at least 62, married for at least one continuous year, and your spouse must already be collecting retirement or disability benefits. There’s one exception to the age rule worth knowing: if you’re caring for the worker’s child who is under 16 or receives Social Security disability benefits, you can collect at any age, and the usual early-filing reduction doesn’t apply.1Social Security Administration. Benefits for Spouses
You can’t pick just the spousal benefit if you also qualify on your own record. Under “deemed filing,” anyone who turned 62 on or after January 2, 2016 is treated as having applied for every benefit they’re eligible for at once.2Social Security Administration. Can I Apply Only for Spouse’s Benefits and Delay Filing for My Own Social Security then pays the higher of the two amounts. It does not stack them.3Social Security Administration. What You Could Get from Family Benefits
Same-sex marriages are recognized in every state for benefits purposes, and some non-marital legal relationships such as civil unions may also count.4Social Security Administration. What Same Sex Couples Need to Know
If You Are Divorced
Divorce doesn’t cut you off from an ex’s Social Security record. You can claim on it if the marriage lasted at least 10 years before the divorce was final, you’re currently unmarried, and you’re at least 62.5Social Security Administration. More Info If You Had a Prior Marriage Deemed filing still applies, so if your own retirement benefit is higher, you’ll get that.
Divorced spouses get one break current spouses don’t. Your ex doesn’t have to have filed yet. As long as your ex is at least 62 and the divorce has been final for two years, you can file on your own. Your ex isn’t notified, and your claim has no effect on what they or their current spouse receive.
Remarrying generally ends your eligibility on a former spouse’s record. If that later marriage itself ends by divorce, death, or annulment, eligibility on the earlier ex’s record can be restored.
If Your Spouse Has Died
A surviving spouse can collect up to 100 percent of what the worker was receiving or would have received at full retirement age.6Social Security Administration. What You Could Get from Survivor Benefits This is a separate, larger benefit than the spousal benefit paid during the worker’s lifetime.
You can start as early as age 60, at a reduced rate of roughly 71.5 percent. That climbs with age: around 75 percent at 61, more than 80 percent at 63, and the full 100 percent at your survivor full retirement age, which is between 66 and 67 depending on when you were born.6Social Security Administration. What You Could Get from Survivor Benefits A disabled surviving spouse can file as early as 50, provided the disability began within seven years of the worker’s death.7Social Security Administration. Who Can Get Survivor Benefits
The Nine-Month Marriage Rule and Its Exceptions
Survivor benefits normally require that the marriage lasted at least nine months before the worker’s death.7Social Security Administration. Who Can Get Survivor Benefits The rule is waived if the death was accidental (an unexpected event involving violent external injury, with death within three months of the injury), if the worker died in the line of duty during active military service, or if the couple had previously been married to each other for at least nine months before an earlier divorce.8Social Security Administration. Code of Federal Regulations 404-0335
Remarriage After 60
Remarriage only ends survivor eligibility if it happens before you turn 60 (or before 50 if you’re on disabled widow’s benefits). Remarry at 60 or later and you keep the survivor benefit on your late spouse’s record, and can compare it against any spousal benefit on the new partner’s record. Social Security pays the higher of the two.9Social Security Administration. Will Remarrying Affect My Social Security Benefits
How Much You Actually Get
The living-spouse maximum is 50 percent of the worker’s primary insurance amount, which is the benefit the worker earns at full retirement age. Filing before your own full retirement age locks in a permanent reduction. For someone with a full retirement age of 67, claiming a spousal benefit at 62 cuts the payment by 35 percent, so you’d get 32.5 percent of the worker’s amount instead of 50.10Social Security Administration. Benefit Reduction for Early Retirement The reduction sticks even after you reach full retirement age.
Survivor benefits use a different schedule, starting near 71.5 percent at age 60 and reaching the full 100 percent at your survivor full retirement age.6Social Security Administration. What You Could Get from Survivor Benefits
The Family Maximum
When several relatives collect on the same worker’s record, total household benefits are capped. The formula ties the cap to the worker’s primary insurance amount, and for workers who turn 62 or die in 2026 it uses percentages between 150 and 272 percent applied to different portions of that amount.11Social Security Administration. Formula for Family Maximum Benefit In practice, the cap usually lands between 150 and 180 percent of the worker’s benefit. If the total would exceed it, each dependent’s share is reduced proportionally. The worker’s own benefit is never cut.
Working While You Collect
Claim before full retirement age and keep working, and Social Security applies an earnings test. In 2026, you can earn up to $24,480 without penalty; above that, $1 in benefits is withheld for every $2 you earn.12Social Security Administration. Receiving Benefits While Working
Withheld money isn’t gone for good. Once you hit full retirement age, Social Security recomputes your benefit to credit the months when payments were held back, and the earnings test disappears entirely from that point on.
Taxes
Spousal and survivor benefits are taxed the same way as retirement benefits. The IRS looks at your “combined income,” which is your adjusted gross income plus tax-exempt interest plus half your Social Security benefits.13Social Security Administration. Must I Pay Taxes on Social Security Benefits
File individually with combined income over $25,000 and up to 85 percent of your benefits can be taxable. For joint filers, that threshold is $32,000.13Social Security Administration. Must I Pay Taxes on Social Security Benefits These thresholds are not adjusted for inflation. A handful of states also tax benefits, though most don’t.
Government Pensions After the Fairness Act
For decades, the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision reduced or wiped out spousal and survivor benefits for people whose pensions came from government jobs not covered by Social Security. The GPO alone cut spousal benefits by two-thirds of the government pension amount, often to zero.
The Social Security Fairness Act, signed January 5, 2025, repealed both provisions retroactive to benefits payable for January 2024 and later.14Social Security Administration. Social Security Fairness Act: Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset Update If you were previously denied a spousal or survivor benefit because of the GPO, or had your own benefit trimmed by the WEP, you may need to file a new application. Restoration isn’t always automatic, and the usual early-filing reductions and earnings test still apply.
Retroactive Payments if You Waited Past Full Retirement Age
Filed late? You can request up to six months of retroactive spousal or survivor benefits, but only for months after you reached full retirement age.15Social Security Administration. Delayed Retirement Credits Applying about four months before your desired start date helps avoid gaps while processing runs.
How to Apply
You can apply online at ssa.gov, by scheduling a phone interview, or in person at a local Social Security office. Gather these before you start:16Social Security Administration. Information You Need to Apply for Spouse’s or Divorced Spouse’s Benefits
- Social Security numbers for you and the worker
- Original or certified birth certificate
- Marriage certificate
- Divorce decree, if applying as a divorced spouse
- Death certificate, if applying for survivor benefits
Most documents must be originals, which the agency returns; photocopies of W-2s and tax returns are accepted.16Social Security Administration. Information You Need to Apply for Spouse’s or Divorced Spouse’s Benefits Processing usually takes several weeks, longer for divorced-spouse claims or cases affected by the Fairness Act. You can track status through your my Social Security account online.