Can a divorced husband or wife collects Social Security survivor’s benefits (widow’s or widow’s benefits) after a divorce?

Yes, in some circumstances, they can.

Here is a summary of the requirements:

1. You had to be married for at least 10 years before the divorce became final.
2. You are at least 60 years old; or you are at least 50 years old and have a disability.
   1. If you are at least 50 and have a disability, the disability had to start not later than 7 years after the insured died or 7 years after you were last entitled to mother’s or father’s benefits or to widow’s or widower’s benefits based upon a disability, whichever occurred last.
3. You are not entitled to an old-age benefit that is equal to or larger than the insured person’s primary insurance amount
4. You are unmarried, unless for benefits for months after 1983 you meet one of the following conditions:
   1. You remarried after you became 60 years old; or
   2. You are now age 60 or older and you remarried after age 50 but before attaining age 60 AND at the time of the remarriage, you were entitled to widow’s or widower’s benefits as a disabled widow or widower; or
   3. You are now at least age 50 but not yet age 60 and you remarried after attaining age 50 AND you are disabled AND your disability began within the specified time of subsection c in the regulation listed below.

Want an even simpler version? Here is a short and sweet version (with the exceptions cut out):

Surviving divorced spouse may be eligible for benefits on the deceased ex-spouses earnings if they were married for 10 years, are at least 60 years old (or at least 50 years old and have a disability), are not entitled to a equal or greater old-age benefits, and are unmarried. 

Keep in mind that if you do not meet this standard, there are exceptions (summarized above, and in full below).

Now here is the full text of the regulation with all of the requirements:

§404.336 How do I become entitled to widow’s or widower’s benefits as a surviving divorced spouse? I have reformatted it for easier reading.

We will find you entitled to widow’s or widower’s benefits as the surviving divorced wife or the surviving divorced husband of a person who died fully insured if you meet the requirements in paragraphs (a) through (e) of this section:

(a) You are the insured’s surviving divorced wife or surviving divorced husband and you meet both of the conditions in paragraphs (a)(1) and (2) of this section:

(1) You were validly married to the insured under State law as described in §404.345 or are deemed to have been validly married as described in §404.346.

(2) You were married to the insured for at least 10 years immediately before your divorce became final.

(b) You apply, except that you need not apply again if you meet one of the conditions in paragraphs (b)(1) through (4) of this section:

(1) You are entitled to wife’s or husband’s benefits for the month before the month in which the insured dies and you have attained full retirement age (as defined in §404.409) or you are not entitled to old-age or disability benefits.

(2) You are entitled to mother’s or father’s benefits for the month before the month in which you attain full retirement age (as defined in §404.409).

(3) You are entitled to wife’s or husband’s benefits and to either old-age or disability benefits in the month before the month of the insured’s death, you have not attained full retirement age (as defined in §404.409) in the month of death, and you have filed a Certificate of Election in which you elect to receive reduced widow’s or widower’s benefits.

(4) You applied in 1990 for widow’s or widower’s benefits based on disability, and you meet the requirements in both paragraphs (b)(4)(i) and (ii) of this section:

(i) You were entitled to disability insurance benefits for December 1990 or eligible for supplemental security income or federally administered State supplementary payments, as specified in subparts B and T of part 416 of this chapter, respectively, for January 1991.

(ii) You were found not disabled for any month based on the definition of disability in §§404.1577 and 404.1578, as in effect prior to January 1991, but would have been entitled if the standard in §404.1505(a) had applied. (This exception to the requirement for filing an application is effective only with respect to benefits payable for months after December 1990.)

(c) You are at least 60 years old; or you are at least 50 years old and have a disability as defined in §404.1505 and you meet all of the conditions in paragraphs (c)(1) through (4) of this section:

(1) Your disability started not later than 7 years after the insured died or 7 years after you were last entitled to mother’s or father’s benefits or to widow’s or widower’s benefits based upon a disability, whichever occurred last.

(2) Your disability continued during a waiting period of 5 full consecutive months, unless months beginning with the first month of eligibility for supplemental security income or federally administered State supplementary payments are counted, as explained in the Exception in paragraph (c)(3) of this section. This waiting period may begin no earlier than the 17th month before you applied; the fifth month before the insured died; or if you were previously entitled to mother’s, father’s, widow’s, or widower’s benefits, the 5th month before your previous entitlement to benefits ended. If you were previously entitled to widow’s or widower’s benefits based upon a disability, no waiting period is required.

(3) Exception: For monthly benefits payable for months after December 1990, if you were or have been eligible for supplemental security income or federally administered State supplementary payments, as specified in subparts B and T of part 416 of this chapter, respectively, your disability does not have to have continued through a separate, full 5-month waiting period before you may begin receiving benefits. We will include as months of the 5-month waiting period the months in a period beginning with the first month you received supplemental security income or a federally administered State supplementary payment and continuing through all succeeding months, regardless of whether the months in the period coincide with the months in which your waiting period would have occurred, or whether you continued to be eligible for supplemental security income or a federally administered State supplementary payment after the period began, or whether you met the nondisability requirements for entitlement to widow’s or widower’s benefits. However, we will not pay you benefits under this provision for any month prior to January 1991.

(4) You have not previously received 36 months of payments based on disability when drug addiction or alcoholism was a contributing factor material to the determination of disability (as described in §404.1535), regardless of the number of entitlement periods you may have had, or your current application for widow’s or widower’s benefits is not based on a disability where drug addiction or alcoholism is a contributing factor material to the determination of disability.

(d) You are not entitled to an old-age benefit that is equal to or larger than the insured person’s primary insurance amount.

(e) You are unmarried, unless for benefits for months after 1983 you meet one of the conditions in paragraphs (e)(1) through (3) of this section:

(1) You remarried after you became 60 years old.

(2) You are now age 60 or older and you meet both of the conditions in paragraphs (e)(2)(i) and (ii) of this section:

(i) You remarried after attaining age 50 but before attaining age 60.

(ii) At the time of the remarriage, you were entitled to widow’s or widower’s benefits as a disabled widow or widower.

(3) You are now at least age 50 but not yet age 60 and you meet both of the conditions in paragraphs (e)(3)(i) and (ii) of this section:

(i) You remarried after attaining age 50.

(ii) You met the disability requirements in paragraph (c) of this section at the time of your remarriage (i.e., your disability began within the specified time and before your remarriage).

 photo credit: the Italian voice

Survivors’ benefits are a type of Social Security benefits paid to surviving family members when someone dies.  This may include benefits paid to the widow(er), parents or children.

In my experience, not a lot of attorneys take survivors’ benefits cases so it is difficult to get your questions answered:

• Am I, or my children, eligible for survivors’ benefits?
• When am I, or my children, eligible for survivors’ benefits?
• Social Security stopped my, or my children’s, survivors’ benefits.  Why?

Social Security has a Electronic Fact Sheet which provides a summary of who may be eligible to receive monthly benefits. If Social Security stops your survivors’ benefits, knowing who may be eligible can help you figure out if the cessation of benefits is proper or not.

Some of the deceased’s family members may be eligible to receive Social Security benefits if the deceased person worked long enough under Social Security to qualify for benefits.

Who can get survivors’ benefits?

1) A widow or widower age 60 or older (age 50 or older if disabled);

2) A surviving spouse at any age who is caring for the deceased’s child under age 16 or disabled;

3) An unmarried child of the deceased who is: a) Younger than age 18 (or age 18 or 19 if he or she is a full-time student in an elementary or secondary school); or b) Age 18 or older with a disability that began before age 22;

4) Parents, age 62 or older, who were dependent on the deceased for at least half of their support; and

5) A surviving divorced spouse, under certain circumstances.

These benefits are in addition to the one time “death benefit.”

A one-time payment of $255 can be paid to the surviving spouse if he or she was living with the deceased; or, if living apart, was receiving certain Social Security benefits on the deceased’s record. If there is no surviving spouse, the payment is made to a child who is eligible for benefits on the deceased’s record in the month of death.

Note:  this is just an overview.  There are specific requirements for widow(er)’s benefits and children’s survivors benefits, and parent’s benefits (if caring for a child under 16).