One Work Record, Many Checks

To get a spouse's benefit, you generally must have been married to the worker for at least one continuous year just before you apply. That one-year requirement does not apply if you are the parent of the worker's biological child, or if you were entitled to certain Social Security benefits in the month before the marriage. SSA decides whether you are married using the law of the state where the worker lives when you apply, and in some cases treats a couple as married (a “deemed” marriage) when a ceremony was not legally valid but the applicant believed in good faith that it was. (SSA Handbook §305, §306)

A current spouse can be paid only if the worker is entitled to retirement or disability benefits, which means he has applied. The exception is for divorced spouses (Scenario 20). (SSA Handbook §305; SSA: Who can get Family benefits)

Since 2016, a worker at full retirement age can still voluntarily suspend his own payments to earn delayed credits, but SSA says that during the suspension, benefits to his spouse are suspended too. (SSA: Filing rules)

The spouse's benefit is one-half of the worker's PIA. It is reduced if the spouse claims before her own full retirement age, if the family maximum applies, or if she has a smaller benefit of her own. SSA states that the maximum spouse's benefit is 50% of the amount the worker would receive at full retirement age. (SSA Handbook §320; SSA: Early or late retirement)

SSA always pays your own benefit first. If your spouse's benefit is higher, you get a combination of the two that equals the higher amount. Only the difference is paid as a spouse's benefit. (SSA FAQ KA-02011; Handbook §320)

Under deemed filing, for anyone who turned 62 on or after January 2, 2016, applying for either your own retirement benefit or a spouse's benefit means you are treated as applying for both, at 62 and beyond. You cannot take one and let the other grow. (SSA: Filing rules)

SSI is a needs-based program for people who are 65 or older, blind or disabled and have little or no income and resources. It is not paid on anyone's work record. Social Security benefits count as unearned income for SSI, with the first $20 a month not counted. The resource limit is $2,000 for an individual and $3,000 for a couple. When an SSI applicant lives with a spouse who is not eligible, SSA may count part of that spouse's income and resources (“deeming”). (SSA: SSI; SSI income; SSI resources)

Because a current spouse cannot be paid until the worker files (Scenario 2), Linda's claim at 62 depends on Frank filing at 62 too. Each claim is reduced for age: Frank's retirement benefit by 30% at 62 and Linda's spouse's benefit by 35% at 62, for people with an FRA of 67. (Handbook §305; SSA: Early or late retirement)

The spouse's benefit is reduced by 25/36 of 1% per month for the first 36 months before full retirement age and 5/12 of 1% for each additional month. At 62, a spouse can receive as little as 32.5% of the worker's PIA. The reduction is permanent. The spouse's benefit does not increase after the spouse's own full retirement age. (Handbook §724; SSA: Spouse's benefit; SSA: What you could get from Family benefits)

For people born in 1943 or later, each year of waiting past full retirement age adds 8% (2/3 of 1% per month), and the increase stops at 70. The spouse's benefit is based on one-half of the worker's PIA, so it does not include his delayed credits. A widow or widower, however, receives the same delayed-credit increase the deceased worker had earned. (SSA: Delayed retirement credits; Handbook §320; §720)

Each person's age matters separately. A spouse must be at least 62 (unless caring for an entitled child, Scenario 11), and the worker must have filed. The early reduction depends on the spouse's own age, not the worker's. (Handbook §305; SSA: Spouse's benefit)

Before full retirement age, SSA withholds $1 for every $2 earned above the annual limit, which is $24,480 in 2026. In the year a person reaches full retirement age, it withholds $1 for every $3 above a higher limit ($65,160 in 2026), counting only earnings before the month of FRA. From that month on, there is no limit. SSA has published 2027 limits of $25,560 and $67,920. (SSA: Receiving benefits while working; SSA: Exempt amounts)

The worker's excess earnings are charged against the whole family's benefits on his record, including a spouse's. A beneficiary's own excess earnings reduce only her own benefit. A divorced spouse who has been divorced at least two years is not affected by the worker's earnings. Withheld benefits are not lost: SSA recalculates the benefit at full retirement age. (Handbook §1804; 20 CFR 404.415)

A spouse of any age can get a spouse's benefit if she has in care the worker's child who is under 16 or disabled and entitled on his record. That benefit is not reduced for age. The family maximum limits the total paid to the family; the worker's own benefit is not cut, but the spouse's and children's benefits can be. Deemed filing does not apply to child-in-care spouse's benefits. (Handbook §305, §312, §320, §731; Filing rules)

For a worker who turns 62 in 2027, SSA's family maximum formula is 150% of the first $1,712 of PIA, 272% of PIA from $1,712 to $2,471, 134% from $2,471 to $3,223 and 175% above that. (SSA: Family maximum)

Family benefits are payable on the record of someone who is entitled to retirement or disability benefits, so the same spouse's rules apply: 62 or older, or caring for an entitled child under 16 or disabled. For a disabled worker, the family maximum is 85% of his average indexed monthly earnings, but not less than his PIA and not more than 150% of his PIA. (SSA: Who can get Family benefits; Handbook §730)

A widow or widower at survivor full retirement age can get 100% of the deceased worker's benefit, including any delayed retirement credits. If she gets a benefit of her own that is smaller, only the difference is paid. You can't receive two benefits added together; SSA pays the higher one. The marriage must generally have lasted at least 9 months, with exceptions such as accidental death. (Handbook §407, §401, §404; SSA: What you could get from Survivor benefits)

The survivor rate is 100% of the worker's PIA plus delayed credits he earned or was eligible for at death. If the worker received a reduced (early) retirement benefit, the survivor benefit is reduced too. SSA's operations manual limits it to the larger of 82.5% of his PIA or the reduced amount he would be receiving if he were alive. (Handbook §407, §720; POMS RS 00615.320)

A widow or widower can claim at 60, or at 50 to 59 if disabled. Survivor payments start at 71.5% of the deceased's benefit and rise the longer you wait: over 75% at 61, over 80% at 63, over 90% at 65, and up to 100% at survivor full retirement age (66 to 67). SSA adds that you might be eligible regardless of age, for example if you are caring for a child of the person who died. (SSA: Who can get Survivor benefits; SSA: Survivor amounts; Handbook §724)

Deemed filing does not apply to survivor benefits. A widow can start one benefit and switch to the other later, for example taking a survivor benefit first and her own retirement benefit at 70, or the reverse. SSA's own example describes a 62-year-old widow who takes only the survivor benefit, lets her own grow, and switches at 70. (SSA: Filing rules; SSA: Survivor amounts)

SSA pays a one-time lump sum of $255, in addition to monthly benefits. It goes to a surviving spouse who was living in the same household, or, if there wasn't one, to a spouse or certain children eligible for benefits on the record. It is not payable to a divorced spouse, and you must apply within two years. (Handbook §428, §430, §431, §1517)

Remarriage at 60 or later (50 or later if disabled) does not stop survivor benefits on the earlier spouse's record. Remarriage before 60 generally means no survivor benefits on the earlier record unless that later marriage ends. After remarrying at 60 or later, she may also become eligible on her new husband's record, and SSA pays the larger amount. (Handbook §406, §409; SSA: Survivor eligibility; SSA blog, Aug. 22, 2024)

A divorced spouse can collect on an ex-spouse's record if the marriage lasted 10 years or more before the divorce became final, she is not married, she is 62 or older, and her own benefit is less than half of his PIA. The benefit is figured the same way as a current spouse's: up to 50% of his PIA, reduced if she claims early. Unlike a current spouse, a divorced spouse cannot claim before 62 even with a child in care. (Handbook §311, §320; SSA: Family eligibility)

A divorced spouse can be independently entitled even if the ex has not filed, as long as he is at least 62 and fully insured and they have been divorced for at least 2 continuous years. A divorced spouse also keeps getting benefits if the ex voluntarily suspends his own. (Handbook §311; SSA: Filing rules)

If you are eligible on more than one record, SSA pays the highest amount. Benefits are not added together. SSA's operations manual says an applicant eligible for reduced spouse's benefits on more than one record is deemed to have filed on all of them. (SSA: Family amounts; POMS GN 00204.035)

A divorced spouse's benefit is not reduced by the family maximum, and her entitlement does not reduce benefits to the worker's current family. SSA's family benefits page says ex-spouses don't count toward the family maximum. (Handbook §320, §731; SSA: Family amounts)

A divorced spouse must be unmarried to qualify. SSA says that generally, if you remarry, benefits paid to you on your former spouse's record stop, and you should report the marriage to avoid an overpayment. Because the requirement is being unmarried, if the later marriage ends, she can ask SSA about qualifying on Frank's record again. (Handbook §311; SSA blog, Aug. 22, 2024)

An ex-spouse married at least 10 years may get survivor benefits on the same terms as a widow: from 60 (50 if disabled), up to 100% at survivor full retirement age, and continuing if she remarries at 60 or later. SSA says you might be eligible regardless of age or length of marriage in some cases, such as caring for the deceased's child. Benefits to a surviving divorced spouse do not count toward the family maximum, so Joan's benefit is not reduced. (SSA: Survivor eligibility; Survivor amounts; Handbook §731)

Summarized from Handbook §311, §406, §431, §731 and SSA: Survivor eligibility.

SSA recognizes a valid same-sex marriage as of the date of the marriage, including periods when the state of residence did not recognize it. Every rule in this guide applies the same way. For survivor benefits, if the marriage falls short of the nine-month requirement, SSA has procedures to consider whether an unconstitutional state law prevented the couple from marrying earlier. (POMS GN 00210.002)

The Social Security Fairness Act, signed January 5, 2025, ended the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO). The GPO had reduced or eliminated spouse's and surviving spouse's benefits for people with a pension from work not covered by Social Security. The change applies to benefits payable for January 2024 and later. People who never applied because of GPO may need to file now; retroactive benefits are generally limited to six months before the application. (SSA: Social Security Fairness Act)

Taxes: up to 85% of Social Security benefits can be taxable. For a joint return, that starts when “combined income” (adjusted gross income, plus tax-exempt interest, plus half of benefits) exceeds $32,000; for an individual, $25,000. You can ask SSA to withhold federal tax at 7%, 10%, 12% or 22%. (SSA FAQ KA-02471; SSA: Withhold taxes)

Medicare: you sign up for Medicare Parts A and B through Social Security, and premiums can be withheld from benefit payments. SSA says spouses and survivors may be eligible for Medicare based on the worker's work history. (SSA: Sign up for Medicare; SSA: Family benefits; Survivor amounts)