You can collect Social Security on your ex-husband’s earnings record as early as age 62, provided your marriage lasted at least 10 years, you are not currently married, and your ex-husband is either already receiving benefits or is at least 62 himself with the divorce final for two years or more. The benefit tops out at 50% of his full retirement amount, and he is neither notified nor affected by your claim.
The Five Conditions That Must Be True
Every one of these has to apply before the Social Security Administration will pay you on an ex-spouse’s record:
- Your marriage lasted at least 10 continuous years before the divorce was finalized.
- You are unmarried at the time you apply. Remarriage after age 60 is treated differently, and that exception is covered below.
- You are at least 62 throughout the month you become entitled.
- Your ex-husband is eligible for Social Security retirement or disability benefits. He does not have to have filed.
- If you also qualify on your own work record, your own benefit is smaller than what you would receive as a divorced spouse. The SSA pays the higher of the two, not both.
The condition that catches people off guard is the one about your ex-husband not yet having filed. You can still claim on his record even if he has not, as long as he is at least 62 and your divorce has been final for at least two continuous years.1Social Security Administration. Code of Federal Regulations 404.331 Once he has filed for his own benefits, that two-year waiting period drops away.
If you were married to more than one person for at least 10 years apiece, you can collect on whichever record produces the highest benefit, but only one at a time.
How Much You’ll Receive
The maximum divorced spouse benefit is 50% of your ex-husband’s primary insurance amount, which is what he would receive at his full retirement age. It is not 50% of what he is actually collecting. If he took a reduced benefit by claiming early, your divorced spouse benefit is still calculated from the full-retirement-age figure.2Social Security Administration. Benefits for Spouses
If you also earned Social Security through your own work, the SSA compares the two amounts and pays the higher one. You do not receive both stacked together.3Social Security Administration. 5 Things Every Woman Should Know About Social Security Mechanically, the SSA pays your own retirement benefit first and then adds a partial divorced spouse amount on top, if that lifts you to the higher figure.
Filing at 62 vs. Waiting Until Full Retirement Age
Age 62 is the earliest you can file, but claiming before your full retirement age permanently reduces the check. Full retirement age depends on your birth year and ranges from 66 to 67; for anyone born in 1960 or later, it is 67.4Social Security Administration. Retirement Age Calculator
The reduction is calculated month by month. For each of the first 36 months you claim early, the benefit drops by 25/36 of one percent. For each additional month beyond 36, it drops another 5/12 of one percent.2Social Security Administration. Benefits for Spouses If your full retirement age is 67 and you file at 62, that is 60 months early, and the total reduction is 35%. Your divorced spouse benefit drops from 50% to 32.5% of your ex-husband’s primary insurance amount, and it stays there for life.
Waiting until full retirement age gets you the full 50%. Waiting past full retirement age does not add anything. Delayed retirement credits, which grow your own retirement benefit if you postpone it past FRA, do not apply to spousal or divorced spouse benefits.2Social Security Administration. Benefits for Spouses
If You Keep Working
Filing before full retirement age while still on the job triggers the SSA’s earnings test. In 2026, if you are under full retirement age for the entire year, the SSA withholds $1 in benefits for every $2 you earn above $24,480. If you reach full retirement age during 2026, the SSA withholds $1 for every $3 you earn above $65,160, counting only what you earn before your birthday month.
Withheld money is not gone. Once you hit full retirement age, the SSA recalculates the benefit to credit you for months when payments were reduced. Earnings after you reach FRA do not affect your check.5Social Security Administration. Receiving Benefits While Working
If You Remarry
Your ex-husband’s remarriage has no effect on your eligibility. He can marry again, and your claim on his record is unaffected as long as you meet the other requirements.3Social Security Administration. 5 Things Every Woman Should Know About Social Security
Your own remarriage is what matters. If you remarry before age 60, you lose eligibility for divorced spouse benefits on your former husband’s record.6Social Security Administration. POMS RS 00202.040 – Spouse’s Benefits – Termination Events If that later marriage ends by divorce, annulment, or death, eligibility on the first ex-husband’s record returns.7Social Security Administration. Social Security Handbook 1853
Remarriage at age 60 or later is the exception. Marry after 60, and you can still collect on your first ex-husband’s record. This exception carries even more weight for survivor benefits.
If Your Ex-Husband Dies
When an ex-husband passes away, the benefit picture changes substantially. Surviving divorced spouse benefits can be as much as 100% of what he was receiving or entitled to receive at the time of death, rather than the 50% cap that applies during his lifetime.8Social Security Administration. What You Could Get From Survivor Benefits
The core requirements track the divorced spouse rules: the 10-year marriage, and current unmarried status unless you remarried after 60.9Social Security Administration. Survivors Benefits The age rules are more generous:
- You can claim reduced survivor benefits starting at age 60. The amount begins around 71.5% of his benefit and rises the longer you wait.8Social Security Administration. What You Could Get From Survivor Benefits
- You can claim as early as age 50 if you have a qualifying disability.9Social Security Administration. Survivors Benefits
- Waiting until your full retirement age gets you 100% of his benefit.
Survivor benefits require a separate application. If you are already receiving a retirement benefit on your own record when he dies, contact the SSA to see whether switching to the survivor benefit would pay more.
What He Won’t Know, and What Won’t Change for Him
Filing on your ex-husband’s record does not reduce his monthly check, and it does not touch benefits paid to a current spouse or other dependents.3Social Security Administration. 5 Things Every Woman Should Know About Social Security The SSA does not notify him that you filed. He does not need to know, and you do not need his cooperation or permission to apply.
How to File
You can apply online if you are within three months of turning 62 or older, by phone at 1-800-772-1213, or in person at a local Social Security office.10Social Security Administration. Form SSA-2 – Information You Need to Apply for Spouse’s or Divorced Spouse’s Benefits Have these documents ready:
- Your birth certificate or other proof of age.
- Proof of U.S. citizenship or lawful immigration status if you were not born in the United States.
- Your marriage certificate.
- The final divorce decree showing the marriage ended and when.
Your ex-husband’s Social Security number speeds things along but is not required. If you do not have it, the SSA can work with his date and place of birth, his parents’ names, or similar identifying details.10Social Security Administration. Form SSA-2 – Information You Need to Apply for Spouse’s or Divorced Spouse’s Benefits