By Alessandra Malito
Would I be able to collect my first husband鈥檚 benefit instead of mine if it鈥檚 higher since I am not married, if he dies before me? He is currently married.
Twice Divorced
See: I鈥檓 68 and leaving my job for grad school. What should I do about health insurance?
Dear Twice Divorced,
Yes, generally speaking, you can switch from your own benefit to a survivor benefit, but as with all Social Security questions, there are stipulations.
You鈥檝e actually touched on the most major stipulation, and that is based on the amounts of both of your payments. If you鈥檙e receiving benefits on your own record, you鈥檒l have to call or visit the Social Security Administration to check if your benefits as a survivor would be higher than your own. The Social Security Administration doesn鈥檛 give out two payments, but it does give out the higher of the individual鈥檚 options.
If you plan to visit the office, you鈥檒l have to make an appointment. You can also call the agency at 1-800-772-1213. Whether you switch benefits or not at some point, it is also a good idea to have an online mySSA account. You can find out more about that here.
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You mentioned your ex was remarried. That鈥檚 fine. Ex-wives and ex-husbands can claim spousal or survivor benefits without impacting the individual of record or their family.
I just wanted to touch on another stipulation. It doesn鈥檛 impact you, but it may impact someone else reading this who has been divorced. There are a lot of rules around benefits for ex-spouses, and one has to do with remarrying. If someone were to remarry (and stay married), they would not be able to claim survivor benefits on the previous spouse鈥檚 record.
There is one scenario when that鈥檚 not true though, and that鈥檚 if the person remarried after age 60. 鈥淩emarriage after age 60 (or age 50 if you have a disability) won鈥檛 prevent you from getting benefit payments based on your former spouse鈥檚 work,鈥 the Social Security Administration said in its guide on survivor benefits.
Kudos to you for being so aware of your claiming strategy options, such as switching from benefits on your ex-husband鈥檚 record to yours when you reached age 70, which gave you the maximum benefit. Social Security will be able to help you sort out how to get the most at various crossroads in your life.
Read: How long is the wait for Social Security customer service? No one knows.
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