How to claim Social Security spousal benefits
There are a couple of ways in which you can apply for Social Security spousal benefits. You can sign up on the Social Security Administration website (but you have to be within three months of reaching 62 or older) by calling 1-800-772-1213, or the old-fashioned way, by going to any local Social Security office.
You might have to provide your birth certificate and marriage certificate, as well as W-2 forms with your tax returns and any other needed documents.
You have to remember that you can’t get your retirement benefits from your own work record or spousal benefits. However, if you’re eligible for both, then the Social Security Administration will automatically compare the two benefit amounts and award the greater.
Who can claim these spousal benefits?
The spouses of retirees who are eligible for Social Security can get spousal benefits. We already knew that. However, they aren’t the only ones, as divorced spouses can also tap into their spousal benefits, even if they aren’t married anymore. Here are the conditions:
- They are married to workers for a minimum of 10 years.
- They are unmarried.
- They are 62 and older.
- The spousal benefit is much higher than the benefit they would initially get based on their own work record.
The spousal benefits divorced spouses can get do not affect their own workers’ benefits. Moreover, they don’t have to change their spousal benefits to other current or divorced spouses.
Also, widowed spouses can access Social Security benefits, depending on the worker’s record. However, these benefits are survivors’ benefits, and they’re not the same as spousal benefits, which automatically means they will have different guidelines.
One of these includes the ability to start receiving benefits as early as age 60.
