If you were married for at least ten years and are now divorced, you can collect Social Security benefits for divorced spouses on your ex-spouse’s earnings record, worth up to 50 percent of their full retirement benefit while they’re alive and up to 100 percent if they’ve died. Your claim doesn’t reduce your ex-spouse’s check, doesn’t touch benefits paid to their current family, and doesn’t require their permission or knowledge.
Who Qualifies
Five conditions have to be true at the same time:
- Your marriage lasted at least ten years before the divorce became final.1Social Security Administration. 20 CFR 404.331 – Who Is Entitled to Wife’s or Husband’s Benefits as a Divorced Spouse
- You are at least 62 throughout the month you become entitled.
- You are currently unmarried.
- Your ex-spouse is entitled to retirement or disability benefits, or is at least 62 and eligible for them.
- Your own retirement benefit is less than half of your ex-spouse’s primary insurance amount. If it isn’t, there’s nothing extra for Social Security to pay you.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 402 – Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Benefit Payments
Your ex-spouse doesn’t have to be collecting yet. If your divorce has been final for at least two years and your ex is at least 62, you can file even though they haven’t retired.1Social Security Administration. 20 CFR 404.331 – Who Is Entitled to Wife’s or Husband’s Benefits as a Divorced Spouse That two-year rule keeps your timing independent of your ex-spouse’s decisions.
If you were married more than once and each marriage lasted at least ten years, you can claim on whichever ex-spouse’s record produces the higher benefit.
How Much You’ll Receive
At your full retirement age, the divorced spouse benefit equals 50 percent of your ex-spouse’s primary insurance amount, the monthly figure they’re entitled to at their own full retirement age.3Social Security Administration. Benefits for Spouses For anyone born in 1960 or later, full retirement age is 67.4Social Security Administration. Retirement Age Calculator
If your own retirement benefit is smaller than the spousal amount, Social Security pays your own benefit first, then adds a supplement to bring you up to the spousal level. You don’t get both amounts stacked.
Claiming Before Full Retirement Age
You can start as early as 62, but the reduction is permanent. Filing at 62 when your full retirement age is 67 drops the spousal benefit from 50 percent of your ex-spouse’s primary insurance amount down to about 32.5 percent.5Social Security Administration. Benefit Reduction for Early Retirement On a $2,400 primary insurance amount, that’s the difference between $1,200 and roughly $780 a month for life.
Deemed Filing
If you turned 62 on or after January 2, 2016, filing for any benefit means filing for every benefit you qualify for. You cannot take only the divorced spouse benefit while letting your own retirement benefit grow to age 70. Social Security simply pays the higher combination.6Social Security Administration. Can I Apply Only for Spouse’s Benefits and Delay Filing for My Own
Remarriage
Remarrying ends the divorced spouse benefit in most cases. But if that later marriage ends through divorce, annulment, or your new spouse’s death, you can qualify again on your first ex-spouse’s record, provided you still meet the other requirements. A narrow exception: if you marry someone already receiving certain Social Security auxiliary benefits, such as widower’s or parent’s benefits, your divorced spouse entitlement is not terminated.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 402 – Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Benefit Payments
If Your Ex-Spouse Has Died
A surviving divorced spouse can receive up to 100 percent of what the deceased worker was entitled to, and the eligibility rules loosen:7Social Security Administration. Social Security Act Section 202
- The age threshold drops to 60, or 50 if you have a qualifying disability.8Social Security Administration. Who Can Get Survivor Benefits
- The ten-year marriage requirement still applies.
- Remarriage after age 60 (or after 50 if disabled) is disregarded for survivor benefit purposes.
If you’re already collecting a reduced divorced spouse benefit or your own smaller retirement benefit when your ex-spouse dies, you can switch to the higher survivor benefit. For someone whose ex had a strong earnings history, the increase can be substantial.
What Your Claim Does to Your Ex-Spouse
Nothing. Your claim does not reduce your ex-spouse’s payment, doesn’t reduce benefits payable to their current spouse or children, and Social Security doesn’t notify your ex-spouse when you file. Divorced spouse benefits are excluded from the family maximum, the cap that limits total benefits paid on one worker’s record.9Social Security Administration. Research: Understanding the Social Security Family Maximum Your ex-spouse’s current family gets their full entitlement, and you get yours.
Working While You Collect
A job doesn’t disqualify you, but if you’re under full retirement age, an annual earnings test temporarily reduces your payments. For 2026:10Social Security Administration. Receiving Benefits While Working
- If you’re under full retirement age all year, Social Security withholds $1 for every $2 you earn above $24,480.
- In the year you reach full retirement age, Social Security withholds $1 for every $3 you earn above $65,160, counting only earnings in the months before your birthday month.
The earnings test disappears once you hit full retirement age, and Social Security then recalculates your benefit to credit back the withheld months as higher payments going forward. The money isn’t lost, but the timing catches many working beneficiaries off guard.
How to Apply
You have three options:
- Online at ssa.gov, if you’re within three months of age 62 or older.11Social Security Administration. Information You Need to Apply for Spouse’s or Divorced Spouse’s Benefits
- By phone at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778).
- In person at your local Social Security office. An appointment isn’t required but cuts your wait.
After processing, you’ll get either a Notice of Award showing your monthly amount or a notice explaining a denial.
Documents to Gather
- Social Security numbers for you and your ex-spouse. If you don’t have your ex’s number, Social Security can often look it up.
- Proof of age: an original or certified copy of your birth certificate.
- A certified copy of your marriage certificate.
- A certified copy of the final divorce decree.
Photocopies aren’t accepted. If your current legal name doesn’t match your marriage or divorce records, bring a court order or amended Social Security card documenting the change. Certified copies from courts and vital records offices typically run $10 to $45 each.
If a Government Pension Blocked You Before, Try Again
Until recently, the Government Pension Offset reduced or wiped out divorced spouse benefits for people receiving a pension from government work not covered by Social Security, by subtracting two-thirds of that pension from the spousal benefit. The Social Security Fairness Act, signed on January 5, 2025, ended the offset retroactively for benefits payable after December 2023.12Social Security Administration. Social Security Fairness Act: Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) Update If you were previously denied divorced spouse benefits because of a government pension, contact Social Security to have your case reviewed.