Want one last dig at your ex? Then collect on their Social Security
You must meet certain conditions.
You don’t have to wait until your ex files for benefits.
You must be unmarried.
There may be one last thing to love about your ex: their Social Security check.
Provided you meet certain criteria, you may be eligible for a bigger monthly payment, courtesy of your former spouse. Given that about 43 percent of unmarried older Americans rely on this government benefit for at least 90 percent of their income, this little bump can be huge, as long as you know about it.
“Divorced benefits and qualifications aren’t discussed anywhere on the statement you get in the mail,” said Rob Kron, head of investment and retirement education for the asset management firm BlackRock.
“People just don’t know they are eligible for this money and often times it goes unclaimed.”
See if you qualify
What hurdles do you need to clear in order to collect on an ex-spouse’s work record? As long as your ex is entitled to Social Security, you must meet four main criteria:
Your former marriage lasted at least 10 years.
You are age 62 or older.
You are currently unmarried.
The benefit you are entitled to receive based on your own work is less than your ex-spouse’s benefit.
If all that is true, you may be entitled to up to one-half of your ex’s full retirement benefit, regardless of when they decide to take Social Security or if they remarry.
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