How Long Must You Be Married to Collect Benefits When You Divorce?
- If you are divorced, you must have been married to your ex-spouse for at least 10 years to be eligible to collect Social Security benefits. You must also be unmarried. If you remarried, your last marriage must be over, either by divorce, annulment or death, for you to be able to receive benefits based on your first spouse's earning records. If you were also married to your last spouse for 10 years, you may be able to qualify to receive benefits based on his records. However, you cannot receive benefits from more than one spouse. The Social Security office pays you the highest benefit you are eligible to receive.
- As an ex-spouse, you must also meet other additional requirements to be eligible to receive Social Security benefits based on your ex-spouse's Social Security earnings. You must be 62 years of age or older to start receiving benefits. Also, if you qualify to receive Social Security benefits based on your own Social Security earnings, your benefits must be lower than the benefits you are entitled to receive based on your ex-spouse's earnings.
- If you are the surviving ex-spouse of a deceased worker who has Social Security earnings, you may also be eligible to receive benefits. In this case, your marriage must also be at least 10 years in length. However, if you are taking care of your and your ex-spouse's child who has a disability or is younger than age 16, your marriage may be less than 10 years in length, and you can receive these benefits at any age. You can receive Survivors benefits as an ex-spouse as early as age 60 or 50 if you are disabled.
- The benefits you are eligible to receive based on your ex-spouse's Social Security earnings do not lower or affect other family members eligibility to receive these benefits and the amount of benefits they receive. However, if you receive benefits based on your ex-spouse's record because you take care of your child, your benefits do affect other family members' benefits.