An Unusual Morning Mailbag

of work to qualify for your own Social Security.

Q: In a recent column, you answered a question from a divorced wife who was wondering if she could get the “bump up” in Social Security benefits even though her prior husband, who was also at full retirement age, was planning on deferring his benefits until he was 70.

You said that she should file her claim because the law says a divorced woman can file for benefits on an ex-husband’s record even if he is not collecting benefits -- although the ex would have to be at least age 62.

Well, my wife and I are both at full retirement age. She filed her claim this past year, and I am deferring my benefits until age 70. When I questioned the Social Security clerk about why my wife did not receive the bump up to half of my FRA benefit, which is significant, we were told that my wife could not get the bump up until I began to receive benefits. So, is this another “marriage penalty?”

A: It’s not a “marriage penalty” per se. There is a reason why the rules are different for divorced women and married women.

It all comes down to the issue of dependency. The law requires a woman to be financially dependent on her husband’s Social Security in order to be eligible for spousal benefits on his record. If a woman is still married to her husband, and if he’s still working and not getting Social Security, it’s assumed that his income is being used to support her and therefore she doesn’t need his Social Security spousal benefit until he applies for benefits himself.

But the law can’t make that assumption for a divorced woman. It can’t be assumed that she is being supported by her ex’s current income. So that’s why she is able to collect his Social Security even if he hasn’t yet filed for benefits himself.

Q: I am a recent widow. My husband died in October 2022. I am 47 years old. We were married for 25 years. I was told I would have to wait until I am 60 years old to collect his Social Security. Yet I know another widow who is 10 years younger than me, and she gets a Social Security check for herself and her children. Why is this?

A: The law just assumes that a widow under age 60 ought to be able to work and support herself and not rely on the Social Security system for her livelihood. However, there is an exception for younger widows who are caring for small children. A widow with minor children of the deceased in her care can get benefits at any age. She would collect those benefits until the youngest child reaches age 16 (although the children continue to get survivor benefits until age 18).

In your case, once you reach age 60, you could file for widow’s benefits then -- if you’re not working. If you are working, you’d have to wait until you stop working or reach full retirement age, whichever comes first, to file for benefits. And when that happens, you’ll have several options. Just as one example: you could file for widow’s benefits at your full retirement age and then at 70, switch to about 128% of your own retirement benefit.

If you have a Social Security question, Tom Margenau has two books with all the answers. One is called “Social Security -- Simple and Smart: 10 Easy-to-Understand Fact Sheets That Will Answer All Your Questions About Social Security.” The other is “Social Security: 100 Myths and 100 Facts.” You can find the books at Amazon.com or other book outlets.

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