Spousal Social Security After Divorce, Widowhood, or Family Caregiving

This guide presents selected U.S. government consumer education from Social Security Administration. References to “we” or “us” in the source material refer to the issuing agency. Source dates and links appear below.

If you have income from a government pension

If you receive earnings from work that is not subject to Social Security taxes, you will not earn credits for Social Security retirement or disability benefits from that work.

Those earnings will not be considered when calculating future survivors benefits related to your earnings. However, if you have earned enough credits to be eligible for Social Security benefits and are also receiving a pension from employment that is not covered by Social Security, the pension will not affect your Social Security benefits. Effective January 2024, the Social Security Fairness Act (SSFA) has removed the reduction of Social Security benefits under the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset provision.

For more information visit www.ssa.gov/benefits/ retirement/social-security-fairness-act.html.

If you haven’t worked or if you don’t have enough Social Security credits

It may be that you haven’t worked or you don’t have enough Social Security credits, and you’re married. If so, you may be eligible for Social Security benefits as a result of your spouse’s work. You and your children have Social Security protection through your spouse’s work if they have enough credits. Your children must be younger than age 18 or younger than age 19 if still in secondary school or have a disability that began before age 22. When your spouse retires, or if your spouse develops a disability, you could be eligible for benefits as early as age 62. If you’re caring for your child who is younger than age 16, or who has a disability and entitled to benefits, you could receive benefits at any age.

You may choose to begin receiving spouse’s benefits before you reach full retirement age. If so, we will reduce your benefit amount. Your benefit amount won’t increase when you reach full retirement age. You may wait until you reach full retirement age when you’ll receive the maximum benefit, which is up to half of the amount your spouse is entitled to receive at full retirement age.

You and your spouse will be eligible for Medicare at age 65.

If you survive your spouse

If your spouse dies, you can get survivor’s benefits if you’re age 60 or older. If you have a disability, you can get these benefits as early as age 50. Your benefit amount will depend on your age and on the amount your deceased spouse was entitled to at the time of your spouse’s death. If your spouse was receiving reduced benefits, your survivor benefit may be based on that amount.

You may be eligible for these benefits and Medicare before age 65 if you have a disability and you’re entitled to benefits. You also may be eligible for surviving spouse’s benefits if you are caring for a child who is younger than 16. If you remarry before you reach age 60 (or age 50 if you have a disability), you can’t receive surviving spouse’s benefits as long as that marriage remains in effect. If you remarry after you reach age 60 (or age 50 if you have a disability), you’ll continue to receive benefits on your deceased spouse’s Social Security record. However, if your current spouse is a Social Security beneficiary, you should apply for a spouse’s benefit if it would be larger than your surviving spouse’s benefit. You can’t get both.

If you’re also entitled to retirement benefits based on your own work, you have other options. Ask a Social Security representative to explain the options so you can decide which would be best for you.

If you’re divorced

If you’ve never asked Social Security about receiving benefits based on your ex-spouse’s work, you should. Many people may be eligible for a higher benefit based on their ex-spouse’s work, especially if their ex-spouse is deceased. When you apply, you’ll need to give your ex-spouse’s SSN. If you don’t know your ex-spouse’s number, you’ll need to provide their date and place of birth and the names of their parents.

The following requirements also apply to your divorced spouse if your ex-spouse’s eligibility for benefits is based on your work.

If your ex-spouse is living

If you’re divorced, you can receive benefits based on your ex-spouse’s work if:

• Your marriage lasted 10 years or longer
• You’re unmarried
• You’re age 62 or older
• The benefit you’re entitled to receive based on your own work is less than the benefits you’d receive based on your spouse’s work
• Your ex-spouse is entitled to Social Security retirement or disability benefits

Your ex-spouse may not have applied for benefits but is eligible for them and is age 62 or older. In that case, you can receive benefits on his or her work record if you’ve been divorced for at least 2 continuous years.

If your ex-spouse is deceased, you can receive benefits

If you’re divorced, you can receive benefits based on your deceased ex-spouse’s work if:

• At age 60, or age 50 if you have a disability, if your marriage lasted at least 10 years, and you aren’t entitled to a higher benefit on your own record.
• At any age and caring for your ex-spouse’s child, who also is your natural or legally adopted child and younger than 16 or has a disability and entitled to benefits. Your benefits will continue until the child reaches age 16 or until the child no longer has a disability. You can receive this benefit even though you weren’t married to your ex-spouse for 10 years.

If you’re a caregiver

You may be caring for an older person or a relative with a disability who needs help managing their monthly Social Security or SSI benefits. If this is the case, you can apply to be their representative payee. Social Security will conduct a careful investigation to determine if you meet the requirements.

As a representative payee, we’ll pay you the person’s benefits to use on their behalf. That means you must know what your relative’s needs are so you can decide the best way to use the benefits for their personal care and well-being. First, you must make sure that the beneficiary has food and shelter. Then, you can use the money to pay for the beneficiary’s medical and dental bills that are not covered by health insurance. You can also pay for personal needs and recreation.

For more information about the representative payee program, visit www.ssa.gov/payee. You also can read A Guide for Representative Payees (Publication

No. 05-10076). If you’re caring for a child with disabilities, read Benefits for Children with Disabilities (Publication No. 05-10026).

Advance Designation

Advance Designation allows certain parties to choose up to 3 people who could potentially serve as their representative payee in the future, if the need arises. These parties include capable adult and emancipated minor applicants and beneficiaries of Social Security, SSI, and Special Veterans Benefits

To help protect what’s important to you, we offer the option of choosing a representative payee in advance. If you are unable to manage or direct others to manage your benefits in the future, you’ll have peace of mind knowing that someone you trust, and have already chosen in advance, may be appointed to manage your benefits.

You can submit an Advance Designation request online with your personal my Social Security account, by telephone, or in person.

If you’re a victim of family violence

Anyone can be a victim of family violence or harassment, abuse, or life-endangering situations. If you’re a victim of family violence, Social Security may be able to help you.

Public awareness campaigns stress how important it is for victims to develop safety plans that include gathering personal papers and choosing a safe place to go. Sometimes the best way to evade an abuser and reduce the risk of further violence may be to relocate and establish a new identity. After these changes, getting a new SSN may also be helpful.

Although we don’t routinely assign new numbers, we’ll do so when evidence shows you’re being harassed or abused, or your life is endangered.

Applying for a new number is a big decision. Your ability to interact with federal and state agencies, employers, and others may be affected. This is because your financial, medical, employment, and other records will be under your former SSN and name (if you change your name). If you expect to change your name, we recommend you do so before applying for a new number.

For more information, read New Numbers for Domestic Violence Victims (Publication No. 05-10093).

Sources and publication details

• What Every Woman Should Know — Social Security Administration; source date: May 2026; selected sections: If you have income from a government pension; If you haven’t worked or if you don’t have enough Social Security credits; If you survive your spouse; If you’re divorced; If you’re a caregiver; Advance Designation; If you’re a victim of family violence.

The federal agency source text is U.S. government work in the public domain. Fynoptic selected, adapted, and formatted it for this guide. No agency endorsement is implied. Follow the linked sources for current program details and the rules applicable to your circumstances.