A divorced spouse can get up to 50% of what percent of Social Security does a divorced spouse get comes down to one number: 50% of the ex-spouse’s full retirement age benefit, and only if the divorced spouse waits until their own full retirement age to claim. Claim earlier and the percentage drops. Have a larger benefit of your own and you get that instead. If the ex-spouse has died, the ceiling rises to 100%.
Who Qualifies
Five conditions all have to be met:
- The marriage lasted at least 10 years before the divorce was final.
- You are currently unmarried.
- You are at least 62.
- Your ex-spouse is eligible for Social Security retirement or disability benefits.
- Your own retirement benefit, if any, is less than what you would receive as a divorced spouse.
Your ex-spouse does not have to have filed yet. If they are at least 62 and otherwise eligible but haven’t claimed, you can still file on their record once you’ve been divorced for at least two years.1Social Security Administration. Code of Federal Regulations 404-0331 – Who Is Entitled to Wife’s or Husband’s Benefits as a Divorced Spouse If they are already collecting, the two-year wait doesn’t apply.
SSA won’t tell your ex-spouse you’ve filed. Your benefit doesn’t reduce theirs, and it doesn’t affect a current spouse or any other former spouse on the same record.2Social Security Administration. Who Can Get Family Benefits
What the 50% Is Actually 50% Of
The 50% cap is applied to your ex-spouse’s primary insurance amount, which is the monthly benefit they would receive at their full retirement age (67 for anyone born in 1960 or later).3Social Security Administration. Benefits Planner: Retirement – Born in 1960 or Later If the PIA is $2,800, your maximum divorced spouse benefit is $1,400.
Two things about that ceiling are worth pinning down. First, it applies only if you claim at your own full retirement age. Second, it is measured against the PIA regardless of what your ex-spouse actually does. If they delay to 70 and collect a bigger check, your divorced spouse benefit stays at 50% of the PIA. Delayed retirement credits belong to the worker.4Social Security Administration. Benefits for Spouses
There is also no bonus for waiting past full retirement age on a spousal benefit. Once you hit 67, you’ve hit the maximum. Waiting to 68 or 70 does not push the percentage above 50.
What Claiming Early Costs
You can start as early as 62, but the reduction is permanent. For someone born in 1960 or later with a full retirement age of 67, filing at 62 cuts the divorced spouse benefit from 50% of the ex’s PIA down to 32.5%.3Social Security Administration. Benefits Planner: Retirement – Born in 1960 or Later
In dollars, on a $2,800 PIA: the full benefit at 67 is $1,400 a month. At 62 it’s $910. That $490 gap doesn’t close later. The reduction slides month by month, so 63 is less punishing than 62, 64 less than 63, and so on.5Social Security Administration. Benefits Planner: Retirement – Retirement Age and Benefit Reduction
If You Have Your Own Work Record
You don’t get to pick one benefit and switch later. Under the deemed filing rule, anyone born on or after January 2, 1954, who files for either their own retirement benefit or a divorced spouse benefit is treated as having filed for both. SSA pays the higher of the two, not the sum.6Social Security Administration. Filing Rules for Retirement and Spouses Benefits
The old approach of claiming a smaller spousal benefit at 62 and switching to your own larger retirement benefit later doesn’t work for anyone who reached 62 after January 2016. The moment you file, both amounts are calculated and you receive whichever is bigger.
Working While Collecting
If you claim before your full retirement age and keep working, the earnings test can temporarily hold back part of your check. In 2026, if you’re under full retirement age for the whole year, SSA withholds $1 for every $2 earned above $24,480. In the year you reach full retirement age, the threshold rises to $65,160 and the withholding drops to $1 for every $3 earned above that limit, counting only earnings before the month you reach full retirement age.7Social Security Administration. 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Fact Sheet
Withheld benefits aren’t gone. Once you reach full retirement age, SSA recalculates your benefit to credit the months where money was withheld. After full retirement age, the earnings test goes away entirely.
Remarriage Ends It
Remarriage stops divorced spouse benefits, immediately and completely. There is no partial exception while you’re married to someone new.1Social Security Administration. Code of Federal Regulations 404-0331 – Who Is Entitled to Wife’s or Husband’s Benefits as a Divorced Spouse
If that later marriage ends by divorce, annulment, or death, eligibility on your first ex-spouse’s record can come back, provided you meet the original requirements and are unmarried when you file.8Social Security Administration. Research: Widows Waiting to Wed? (Re)Marriage and Economic Incentives in Social Security Widow Benefits
If Your Ex-Spouse Has Died
The percentage changes when the ex-spouse dies. A surviving divorced spouse can receive up to 100% of the deceased worker’s benefit at full retirement age, not 50%.9Social Security Administration. Survivors Benefits
The core rules track the divorced spouse benefit: a 10-year marriage, currently unmarried, and generally at least 60 (or 50 if you have a disability). One exception: if you’re caring for the deceased ex-spouse’s child who is under 16 or has a disability, neither the age requirement nor the 10-year marriage requirement applies.
Claiming a survivor benefit early still reduces it, but not as steeply. A surviving divorced spouse who files at 60 receives between 71% and 99% of the deceased worker’s benefit, depending on exact age.9Social Security Administration. Survivors Benefits
Two other differences matter. Remarriage after age 60 does not affect survivor benefits; remarriage before 60 does, but eligibility can be restored if that marriage ends. And deemed filing does not apply to survivor benefits, so it is possible to claim a survivor benefit on your late ex-spouse’s record while letting your own retirement benefit grow until 70, then switch to the higher amount.
Government Pension Rule Change
Divorced spouses who worked in government jobs not covered by Social Security used to see their spousal or survivor benefits cut by two-thirds of their government pension under the Government Pension Offset, which often erased the benefit. The Social Security Fairness Act, signed on January 5, 2025, eliminated the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision.10Social Security Administration. Social Security Fairness Act: Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) If you were previously denied or reduced because of a government pension, contact SSA to have your benefits recalculated.
How to Apply
You can file online if you’re within three months of 62 or older, call SSA at 1-800-772-1213, or go to a local office.11Social Security Administration. Form SSA-2 – Information You Need to Apply for Spouse’s or Divorced Spouse’s Benefits
Have these ready:
- Birth certificate or other proof of birth.
- Proof of U.S. citizenship or lawful immigration status if you were born outside the country.
- Marriage certificate from the marriage you’re claiming on.
- Final divorce decree.
- W-2 forms or self-employment tax returns from the previous year.
Your ex-spouse’s Social Security number speeds things up but isn’t required. SSA can find the record from a name and date of birth. You don’t need your ex-spouse’s cooperation, or even their knowledge, to file.11Social Security Administration. Form SSA-2 – Information You Need to Apply for Spouse’s or Divorced Spouse’s Benefits