Spouses, ex-spouses can be eligible for social security benefits

Were you a stay-at-home parent or full-time family caregiver during what might have been your prime working years? Or are you a longtime low-wage earner married to a better-paid breadwinner?

If your own earnings history has left you eligible for a meager Social Security retirement benefit — or none at all — you may have options to boost your payment. If you are married or were,

you may be eligible to receive benefits based on your spouse’s or former spouse’s earnings record. How much you can get depends on when you apply and what benefit your spouse or ex

qualifies for at full retirement age.   [embedded content] HOW TO RECEIVE THE BIGGEST SPOUSAL BENEFIT You could receive a spousal benefit worth up to half of your spouse’s full retirement

benefit, even if your spouse took a reduced amount by collecting before full retirement age. What you get will not take a piece of what your spouse is paid, no matter when your mate filed.

But you do have to check all these boxes: If you were born in 1958, your full retirement age is 66 and eight months. If you were born in 1959, your full retirement age is 66 and 10 months.

So you’ll reach this milestone in 2025 if you were born in the last eight months of 1958, in the first two months of 1959 or on March 1, 1959. If you were born on the first of any month,

Social Security calculates your benefit as if you had been born the previous month, so if you were born Jan. 1, 1959, you have a full retirement age of 66 and eight months, just like people

born on Dec. 31, 1958. NEED TO FILE BEFORE FULL RETIREMENT AGE? If so, your spousal benefit will be permanently reduced. If you collect at 62 this year, you’ll get 32.5 percent of your

spouse’s full benefit at the least; the percentage edges up each month you wait. The age rules have two exceptions. You can receive a spousal benefit at any age if you’re caring for a child

who: * IS YOUNGER THAN 16. * OR HAS A DISABILITY and is entitled to receive benefits on your spouse’s record. In both these cases, you’ll get the maximum spousal benefit — 50 percent of your

partner’s full benefit amount. WAITING UNTIL 70 WON’T MATTER. Retirement benefits keep growing if you put off claiming them until age 70, but spousal benefits don’t work that way. You get

the most you can as a spouse at full retirement age. JOIN AARP’S FIGHT TO PROTECT SOCIAL SECURITY You’ve worked hard and paid into Social Security with every paycheck. But recently, we’ve

heard from thousands of worried Americans.   Join us in sending a loud and clear message to lawmakers. ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER ADVERTISEMENT 5 IMPORTANT POINTS FOR SPOUSES TO KEEP IN MIND 1.

YOUR SPOUSAL BENEFIT, no matter its size, will not affect what your husband or wife receives. 2. YOUR PARTNER’S AGE DOESN’T MATTER. Your payment won’t change based on the age your spouse

claims Social Security. Your payment is always based on your partner’s benefit at full retirement age. 3. YOU DON’T NEED A WORK RECORD. Spousal benefits are based entirely on your spouse’s

earnings history. You may qualify for them even if you’ve never worked or paid Social Security taxes. 4. IF YOU DO HAVE A WORK RECORD, the Social Security Administration (SSA) takes that

into account. When you apply for benefits, representatives will figure what you’re eligible to collect as both a retiree and a spouse, and you’ll get the higher of the two amounts, but not

both. 5. BENEFITS FOR SAME-SEX SPOUSES — and ex-spouses — are the same as for any other married couple because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 decision recognizing marriage equality. Some

registered domestic partners, same-sex partners in civil unions and participants in common-law marriages also may qualify for spouse or former spouse benefits, depending on the details of

their states’ laws. You’ll have to jump through a lot more hoops with the Social Security Administration to find out, but the agency encourages you to apply even when you’re uncertain about

eligibility. VIDEO: AM I ENTITLED TO MY EX-SPOUSE'S SOCIAL SECURITY? DIVORCED? YOUR EX MAY PLAY A PART IN YOUR RETIREMENT You may qualify for spousal benefits on your ex’s record if the

marriage lasted at least 10 years and you haven’t married again. SSA generally treats the claim of a former spouse who qualifies the same as that of a current spouse: * THE PAYMENT RANGE IS

THE SAME — from 32.5 percent of your ex-spouse’s full benefit if you claim at 62 to 50 percent at your full retirement age. * YOU CAN QUALIFY AT ANY AGE if you are caring for a child of

your ex’s who is younger than 16 or has a disability. * IF YOUR RETIREMENT BENEFIT IS BIGGER, you’ll get that, not the ex-spouse benefit. YOUR EX WON’T BE AWARE YOU’VE FILED OR BE AFFECTED

IT DOESN’T MATTER IF YOUR EX REMARRIES, only if you do. In that case, you lose eligibility for divorced-spouse benefits. You’ll get that back if the later marriage ends because of divorce,

death or annulment. Your previous marriage matters for Social Security if you were wed for 10 years or longer. YOUR EX WON’T BE AFFECTED. Your claim won’t impact your ex’s benefits or the

payments for an ex’s present spouse or dependents. The SSA won’t notify your former spouse that you’ve applied for benefits on the ex’s record, and the former spouse can’t block you from

getting those benefits in a divorce decree. YOUR EX DOESN’T NEED TO BE RECEIVING BENEFITS. This is a key difference from current-spouse benefits. You can get ex-spouse benefits if your

former mate hasn’t filed for Social Security yet — but only if the divorce is at least two years old. RELATED _Andy Markowitz is an AARP senior writer and editor covering Social Security and

retirement. He is a former editor of the _Prague Post _and_ Baltimore City Paper. _Jammie Lyell is the Social Security program manager for AARP's office of community, state and

national affairs. He formerly worked at the Social Security Administration as a legal administrative specialist and technical expert._