Can Your Ex Stop You From Claiming Social Security on Their Work Record?

Divorces are never easy, but they can be especially difficult if you have a hostile relationship with your ex. The constant haggling over your marital assets can make the divorce proceedings drag on longer than expected. And then there’s the emotional toll.

Once the divorce is finalized, you have to start planning for a new life without them, and that can be challenging, too, especially if you planned to claim Social Security on your ex’s work record. Fortunately, that move may not be as painful as you’d expect.

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Your ex can’t prevent you from claiming Social Security on their work record

The spousal Social Security eligibility requirements are clear, and they don’t require your spouse (or ex) to give permission. You must be married to a qualifying worker or have been married to one for at least 10 years before divorcing. If you’re claiming on an ex’s work record, you must not have remarried, but it doesn’t matter if they have. You and their current spouse can both claim a benefit on their work record at the same time.

As an ex-spouse, you actually have a bit more flexibility than a current spouse might. Normally, married people have to wait until their partner has signed up to claim a spousal benefit. But when you’re divorced, you can apply even if your ex has not, as long as you’ve been divorced for at least two years.

Where things might get a little tricky is if you need specific details from your ex, like their Social Security number, that they don’t want to give to you. In that case, you may need to reach out to the Social Security Administration to help. You can provide as much information about your ex as you know, as well as copies of your marriage and divorce certificates, and the Social Security Administration can look up those missing details for you. You shouldn’t have to involve your ex at all.

You may not get an ex-spousal benefit, even if you’re eligible for one

While you may qualify for a benefit on your ex’s work record, you’ll only receive it if it’s worth more than your own retirement benefit. This could be the case if they earned significantly more than you throughout your career. But it may not be true if you had similar earnings histories. This is because a spousal benefit is worth up to one-half of the benefit the qualifying worker is eligible for at their full retirement age (FRA).

Fortunately, you don’t have to do any work to figure out whether your own benefit or your spousal benefit is larger. The Social Security Administration should check this for you automatically when you apply for benefits.