Social Security and Your Spouse

Benefits for a spouse are among the least understood part of the Social Security program. Your earnings and your decision of when to begin benefits affect the benefits received by your spouse and even by an ex-spouse.

Every married person eligible to receive Social Security benefits looks to two work records to determine the amount of benefits received. The person’s own work record, of course, is one source. The spouse’s record is another. The general rule is that a person receives the higher of the benefits earned under his or her own work record and the spousal benefit based on the spouse’s work record.

Suppose a person’s career work record shows significantly lower income than the spouse’s. The higher benefit for that person might be the spousal benefit, which is half of what the higher-earning spouse would be entitled to at that spouse’s full retirement age. If the higher-earning spouse dies first, the surviving spouse then would receive a survivor benefit equal to the deceased spouse’s retirement benefit.

Note the important difference in those two statements. While the spouse is alive, the lower-earning spouse’s retirement benefit is half of the higher-earning spouse’s benefit at full retirement age, regardless of when the higher-earning spouse decided to begin benefits. But after the higher-earning spouse passes away, the lower-earning spouse’s survivor benefit is the retirement benefit the higher-earning spouse was receiving. That will depend on the age when the higher-earning spouse chose to begin benefits. If the higher-earning spouse began receiving benefits before full retirement age, the surviving spouse will receive less than the full retirement benefit as a survivor benefit.

There is an additional step in the computation of a spouse’s benefit. The benefit of a lower-earning spouse is based on a combination of the higher-earning spouse’s benefit at full retirement age and the age at which the lower-earning spouse actually begins benefits.

For example, if the lower-earning spouse chooses to begin benefits at his or her full retirement age, the benefit will be 50% of the higher-earning spouse’s full retirement benefit. But if the lower-earning spouse begins benefits before full retirement age, the benefit will be reduced on a sliding scale. If age 62 is selected, the benefit received will be 35% of the higher-earning spouse’s full retirement age benefit.

What about divorced spouses? An ex-spouse who has not remarried can collect benefits based on the former spouse’s earnings record. There is an exception. If you remarried after age 60 and your former spouse dies, you can receive a widow’s benefit based on the former spouse’s earnings record despite having remarried.

When you have not remarried, you can receive benefits based on your ex-spouse’s earnings record if you were married at least 10 years. You cannot begin receiving benefits until your former spouse is at least 62 and either collecting benefits or eligible to collect benefits and you also are at least 62.

If those conditions are met, your benefit is the same as a spouse’s benefit: half of the ex-spouse’s benefit at full retirement age if you wait until full retirement age to begin receiving benefits. Begin the benefits before your full retirement age, and the benefit is reduced. The lowest benefit is when you begin receiving benefits at age 62, when you will receive 35% of your ex-spouse’s full retirement benefits.

When an ex-spouse is deceased and you have not remarried, you are eligible to receive a higher survivor’s benefit.

Benefits based on an ex-spouse’s earnings record do not depend on whether that spouse has remarried. That means three or more people could receive benefits based on one person’s earnings record: the person with the earnings record, his or her current spouse, and a former spouse.

The benefit calculations are automatic. There are only a couple of actions people can take to affect the benefit amounts.

A higher-earning spouse, because of sufficient other income and assets, might be indifferent to when Social Security benefits begin. But the decision will affect survivor’s benefits paid to the lower-earning spouse. Those benefits are based on the benefit actually received by the higher-earning spouse, not the amount he or she was eligible for at full retirement age. Begin benefits before full retirement age and the survivor’s benefits are reduced.

The only other strategy to consider is remarriage. That can affect the benefits received by a former spouse. In extreme and cold-blooded calculations, a former spouse might avoid remarriage if it will result in reduced Social Security benefits.

The calculation of benefits for a spouse or former spouse is complicated. There are several sources of help. You can visit a local Social Security office or call 800-772-1213. Social Security also has a pamphlet “What Every Woman Should Know.” On the web site at www.socialsecurity.gov, you can find the rules plus a table of the benefit reductions under different circumstances. Under the “Retirement” section, click on “Plan your retirement” and “Calculate your benefits.”