How can a divorce affect your Social Security benefit options?
The divorced spouse benefit is the same as the benefit for spouses as long as the marriage lasted at least 10 years and the ex-spouse who is receiving the spousal benefit has not re-married.
An interesting fact is that more than one ex-spouse can receive spousal benefits on the same worker’s record! Any spousal benefits paid to one ex-spouse will not impact any benefit payments made to the worker, the worker’s current spouse or other former spouses.
The minute an ex-spouse re-marries, the divorced spouse benefits stop and it cannot be reclaimed even if the new marriage doesn’t last.
On a side note, workers are not notified that an ex-spouse has applied for spousal benefits as a matter of public policy to avoid potential conflict.
Source: www.ssa.gov
