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Q: I have been working but my spouse has not. Is my spouse entitled to any of my Social Security payments? A: Yes and no. Q: What do you mean, "yes and no?" A: Yes, because if your marriage has lasted for 10 years or more, then your spouse may get social security benefits based on the your earnings, after a divorce. But if your marriage has lasted for less than 10 years, then there is no entitlement. Q: How much does my spouse get? A: Your spouse can get up to 50% of your benefit. Q: Does this reduce my own Social Security benefit? A: Not at all (this is also part of our "no" answer above). This is the beauty of this benefit. Even if your spouse does get Social Security benefits based on your work, your own benefits are not reduced. Another way of saying this is that after the divorce, the total social security benefits received by the family may actually increase. Q: What if my spouse remarries? A: If your spouse remarries, the "divorced spouse" benefits stop. If your spouse redivorces, they can start again. Q: What if my spouse was working also? A: Most likely, the "divorced spouse" benefits will have less, if any value if your spouse was working also. The way it works is that your spouse receives the larger of the divorced spouse benefit (i.e., half your benefit) or your spouse's owned earned benefit. If your spouse was working full time, chances are that your spouse's own benefit is more than half of yours. In this case, there is no "divorced spouse benefit." Q: If I want to keep working past retirement age, and defer collecting social security, can my spouse start collecting the "divorced spouse benefit" anyway? A: Yes. Your spouse can start collecting the divorced spouse benefit when you reach the earliest social security retirement age. As is the case for you, the divorced spouse's monthly benefit is reduced if the spouse does not wait until regular retirement age. Q: Can Family Law Software Help? A: Yes. You can use the Family Law Software Financial Planner ot see the effect of anticipates Social Security income on both your bottom line. (The program also automatically adjusts for the partial taxability of Social Security income.) The Planner can also help you see the impact of various decisions on your social security payout. You can see what happens if you start collecting early, and what happens if your spouse starts collecting early. You can also see the impact of waiting to start collecting until later on. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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