Divorced? Here's What You Need to Know About Social Security
Social Security provides retirement benefits for millions of American workers. Yet if you're divorced, the biggest question that you might have is what impact your divorce could have both on your Social Security benefits and those of your ex-spouse. In some cases, you can be entitled to substantial Social Security benefits based on your former spouse's work history. Regardless of what an ex-spouse does, however, your own benefits remain unaffected and available both for yourself and for a current spouse and family members.
The threshold question to ask is whether divorced spouses can claim benefits based on their ex-spouse's earnings history. The general rule is that if you and your ex-spouse were married for less than 10 years, then you're not allowed to claim benefits as a divorced spouse. If the marriage lasted 10 years or longer, then you generally can.
Most of the rules governing claiming Social Security apply to divorced spouses just as much as to currently married spouses. For instance, to claim spousal benefits, you must be at least 62 years old, and the amount is based on your ex-spouse's primary insurance amount and the age at which you claim your benefits. However, there's one key difference: if you otherwise qualify, you can claim spousal benefits even if your ex-spouse hasn't yet claimed retirement benefits.
Source: Fool.com