Can My Ex-Wife Collect My Social Security Money?
The assets your ex-wife is entitled to receive don’t necessarily end with your divorce decree. Depending on the length of your marriage and your ex-wife's age and living situation, she may be entitled to draw government benefits based on your work history.
The Social Security Administration pays benefits to consumers once they reach retirement age. This helps offset the cost of living for those who can no longer work. The SSA pays benefits not only to the retired worker, but to his spouse, children and, in some cases, ex-spouse as well.
Other People Are Reading
-
Benefits
-
If you and your ex-wife were married for 10 years or more and you have already begun receiving Social Security benefits, your ex-wife can draw benefits based on your work history provided she is 62 years old or older. Should you die before reaching retirement age, your ex-wife can begin collecting your benefits as soon as she reaches age 62. The amount your ex-wife collects does not reduce your monthly benefits package.
Exceptions
-
If your ex-wife remarried after your divorce, she is no longer eligible to draw Social Security benefits based on your work history. If, however, her subsequent marriage ended before she reached age 62 or she did not marry until age 60 or older, she can still collect Social Security benefits based on her marriage to you. In the event your ex-wife becomes disabled, she can start collecting your benefits as early as age 50.
-
Limitations
-
Your ex-wife cannot simultaneously collect your Social Security benefits and her own. She must choose whose benefits to apply for. If your monthly benefits are higher than hers yet you choose to work beyond retirement age, she can file for her own benefits and receive them until you retire. When you retire, she can then file for and receive benefits based on your work history rather than her own.
Children's Benefits
-
If you and your ex-wife were married less than 10 years or she has not yet reached retirement age, she can still collect benefits based on your work history if she does so on behalf of your minor children. If you are eligible to draw Social Security and your ex-wife has custody of your minor children, she can draw Social Security benefits for your children when you die or when you begin drawing benefits.
The cutoff age for benefits for minor children is 18. If the child is enrolled in college the cutoff age increases to 19. Your ex-wife can continue drawing your Social Security for your child throughout the child’s life if the child is physically or mentally disabled and the disability occurred before age 22.
-
References
- Social Security Administration: Understanding the Benefits
- Social Security Administration: What Every Woman Should Know
- Faye Hildreth; Medicare Representative; Bremen, Georgia
- Social Security Administration: Benefits for Children
