Social security

MAS

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Apr 4, 2010, 7:55:46 AM4/4/10

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I know that, if you're divorced and want to claim SS on your ex-spouse's
record, you need to have been married at least 10 years. Offhand, does
anyone know if the 10-year rule applies if you are still married and you
want to claim on your spouse's record? I can't seem to find that info
on the SS web site. Thanks.

missussex

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Apr 4, 2010, 7:18:28 PM4/4/10

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At full retirement age if your spouse is living you would be entitled
to take a benefit that is 50% of his, or 100% of your own benefit,
whichever is larger. After your husband dies, you can claim a widow's
benefit that is equal to your spouse's benefit.

MAS

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Apr 4, 2010, 7:24:37 PM4/4/10

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Thank you. What I'm asking specifically is does it make any difference
if we have been married less than 10 years (and are still married) when
we reach full retirement age? If so, why would the rules be different
depending on whether you are married or divorced?

Samantha Hill

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Apr 4, 2010, 8:33:11 PM4/4/10

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MAS wrote:
>
> Thank you. What I'm asking specifically is does it make any difference
> if we have been married less than 10 years (and are still married) when
> we reach full retirement age? If so, why would the rules be different
> depending on whether you are married or divorced?

If you are no longer married but were married for more than 10 years,
it's something like a community property thing -- you are eligible by
virtue of having had a long-term marriage. I am a little fuzzy on the
details, but I know my mom got benefits from my dad's SS starting about
10 years after they had been divorced even though he had remarried.

I am not sure what would happen if you were married less than 10 years
but your husband had been married to someone before you for longer than
10 years. I suspect that you could Google that information, though.

MAS

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Apr 4, 2010, 10:07:22 PM4/4/10

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I don't think I'm being clear. I know how it works if you are divorced
- you must have been married at least 10 years. I'm asking about a
couple who will be married less than 10 years at the time of their full
retirement age, and one wants to claim off of the current spouse's SS,
disregarding whether either or both were married before because neither
is wanting to claim off of an ex-spouse. So far, Google hasn't come up
with anything to answer that specific question, and I really didn't want
to wait on hold all day by calling SS. I was just hoping that someone
on here would know or would have been in that situation. Heck, I have
several years before this comes into play. Everything will probably
change by then.

missussex

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Apr 4, 2010, 10:20:10 PM4/4/10

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On Apr 4, 7:07 pm, MAS <m...@bbbb.net> wrote:
> On 4/4/2010 8:33 PM, Samantha Hill wrote:
>

> <snip>

>
> I don't think I'm being clear. I know how it works if you are divorced
> - you must have been married at least 10 years. I'm asking about a
> couple who will be married less than 10 years at the time of their full
> retirement age, and one wants to claim off of the current spouse's SS,
> disregarding whether either or both were married before because neither
> is wanting to claim off of an ex-spouse. So far, Google hasn't come up
> with anything to answer that specific question, and I really didn't want
> to wait on hold all day by calling SS. I was just hoping that someone
> on here would know or would have been in that situation. Heck, I have
> several years before this comes into play. Everything will probably
> change by then.

As far as I know, the length of the marriage doesn't matter unless you
are divorced.

MAS

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Apr 4, 2010, 10:21:46 PM4/4/10

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Thank you. If true, that's interesting.