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There may be no person more well known on the late night scene the Johnny Carson. The King of Late Night was known for his many characters, his sharp wit, and even popularizing the game Twister. Johnny Carson was also married four times.
His first marriage lasted about 15 years. His second lasted 9 years. The third lasted 13 years. And his fourth marriage was intact when he died in 2005, after 18 years together.
His marital history turns out to be the textbook example of how Social Security handles divorced spouses.
The case study is an absurd example of how the Social Security Spousal Benefits work for divorced couples. Based on the outline of his marriages, 3 of the 4 wives or ex-wives would be eligible for the spousal benefits on Johnny’s primary benefit, assuming they’d meet the other criteria outlined in this post.
What You Can Collect
There are several rules to be aware of when collecting on an ex-spouse’s benefit. As a divorced spouse, you are entitled to up to 50 percent of your ex-spouse’s primary insurance amount, which is the benefit they would receive if they claimed at their full retirement age (FRA).
You will not receive both your own benefit and the full spousal benefit on top of it. Social Security will look at what you have earned on your own record and what you would receive as a divorced spouse, and pay you whichever is higher.
A question I am consistently asked is in regard to an ex-spouse knowing about this or not. Regardless of your decision to file, their benefit stays exactly the same.
If they have remarried, their current spouse’s benefit is also completely unaffected. And the Social Security Administration (SSA) will not notify your ex that you have filed. It is entirely private.
Who Qualifies
To claim benefits on a former spouse’s record, you need to check every box on this list:
Your marriage lasted at least 10 consecutive years.
You are at least 62 years old. That is the earliest you can file, though claiming before your FRA means a permanently reduced benefit.
You are currently unmarried. If you remarried and that marriage is still intact, you cannot claim on a former spouse’s record. However, if a subsequent marriage ended in death, divorce, or annulment, you may be eligible again.
Your ex-spouse is eligible for retirement or disability benefits. If they have not claimed yet, that is okay. You can still file if you have been divorced for at least two continuous years.
A few situations where this does not apply: if the marriage was shorter than 10 years, if you are currently remarried, or if your own work record already produces a benefit higher than 50 percent of your ex’s PIA.
A Simple Example
Say your ex-spouse has a Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) of $2,400 per month. Fifty percent of that is $1,200.
Now say your own Social Security benefit based on your work record is $800 per month.
Because $1,200 is higher than $800, Social Security would pay you the $1,200 divorced spousal benefit instead of your own. The difference, $400 per month, is what the SSA calls the “top-off” and it adds up quickly over a long retirement.
If your own benefit were $1,400, you would simply receive your own benefit and the divorced spousal benefit would not factor in at all.
Who Should Think Seriously About This
This strategy tends to make the most sense if you fit one of these profiles.
You have a significant earnings gap. If you stayed home to raise children, worked part-time, or spent years in jobs that did not pay well, your personal benefit may be relatively small. The divorced spousal benefit can fill that gap considerably.
You are in good health and expect a long retirement. Claiming the spousal benefit at your FRA locks in a reliable income floor for life.
That matters a great deal if you are planning for 25 or 30 years of retirement spending.
Your ex-spouse has a strong work history. The higher their lifetime earnings, the more valuable 50 percent of their PIA becomes to you.
What About Survivor Benefits?
If your ex-spouse dies, you may be able to step into their shoes as a survivor and collect 100 percent of their benefit rather than the 50 percent spousal amount. Survivor benefits for divorced spouses follow slightly different rules, but in many cases the jump from 50 percent to 100 percent represents a meaningful increase in lifetime income.
There are also other rules to be aware of, such as the fact the “deemed filing” rule does not apply to survivors. This means that survivors can collect an ex-spouse’s benefit, while delaying their own benefit.
In this case, you can collect a survivor’s benefit and delay your own (assuming your own benefit would be higher), and eventually switch from the survivor’s benefit to your own benefit.
When to Hold Off
The divorced spousal benefit is not always the right move, or at least not right away.
If your own benefit is growing, waiting can pay off. If you wait past your FRA to claim the spousal benefit, you do not earn delayed credits on it, which is different for an eligible worker’s benefit. That means if your own benefit has real growth potential, it may be worth waiting to claim on your own record instead.
Also, if you are still working and plan to claim before your FRA, be aware that the earnings test applies. If you earn above a certain limit, your benefits can be temporarily withheld until you reach FRA. The money is not lost forever, but it does affect your short-term cash flow.
Back to Johnny
The part that always gets me is that his second wife, of 9 years, falls just short of being one of all four spouses to receive the spousal benefits.
She missed the threshold by a single year. Whether or not this was of consequence to her is unknown to me. But it is worth knowing the rules fully before coming up with a claiming strategy for a divorced couple.
Actionable Steps
If you were married for at least 10 years and are now divorced: Pull your own Social Security statement at ssa.gov and look at your estimated benefit at FRA. Then think about what 50 percent of your ex-spouse’s benefit might look like. If you do not know their earnings history, a financial planner can help you run the comparison.
If you are within five years of retirement: This is the right time to model out your claiming options, including the divorced spousal benefit, before you make any irreversible decisions.Ready to get a clear picture of your options? Schedule a call with our team. We work through Social Security claiming strategies regularly and can help you figure out which path puts the most money in your pocket over a long retirement.