Understanding Spousal, Divorced-Spouse, and Survivor Benefits

Social Security pays more than the worker who earned it. A spouse can get a benefit based on a partner's work record. A divorced spouse can often get one too, if the marriage lasted long enough. And when a worker dies, a surviving spouse can get a benefit that helps replace lost income. This guide explains all three in simple terms: who can get each one, how much it pays, and how the age you claim changes the amount.

Key takeaways

• A spousal benefit can be up to 50 percent of your spouse's full retirement age benefit.
• Claiming a spousal benefit early cuts it for good. At age 62 it can be as low as 32.5 percent.
• A divorced spouse can claim on an ex-spouse's record if the marriage lasted at least 10 years.
• A survivor benefit ranges from 71.5 percent at age 60 to 100 percent at full retirement age.
• You get the higher of your own benefit or a family benefit, not both added together.

Spousal benefits while your spouse is alive

If your own work record gives you a small benefit, or no benefit at all, you may get a benefit as a spouse. Your spouse must already be getting retirement or disability benefits for you to claim on their record. You must be age 62 or older. There is one exception: you can claim at any age if you care for a child under age 16, or a child with a disability who gets benefits on your spouse's record (Social Security Administration, checked 2026-11-08).

At your full retirement age, your spousal benefit can be up to one-half of the amount your spouse is due at their full retirement age. That is the top amount. If your spouse waits past full retirement age to claim and earns a larger check, your spousal benefit does not grow with it. It stays based on the full retirement age amount.

Claiming early costs you. A spouse who claims at age 62 can get as little as 32.5 percent of the worker's basic benefit amount, and the cut lasts for life. Here is how the math works in one case the Social Security Administration gives. If the worker's basic benefit is $1,600 a month, half of that is $800. A spouse who claims 36 months early takes a 25 percent cut on that $800, which leaves $600 a month. That $600 is 37.5 percent of the worker's basic amount. If you care for a young child or a child with a disability, the early cut does not apply.

A payment to you as a spouse does not lower your spouse's own check. Their benefit stays the same.

If you have your own benefit too

Many spouses have their own work record. If that is you, Social Security looks at both benefits. When you apply for one, you are treated as applying for both. This is called deemed filing. You get a combined payment that equals the higher amount, not the two added together.

Here is an example from the Social Security Administration. Sandy is due $1,000 a month on her own record and $1,250 a month as a spouse. At full retirement age she gets her own $1,000, plus $250 from the spousal benefit, for a total of $1,250 a month. She gets the extra $250 only because her own benefit is less than half of her spouse's full retirement age benefit. If your own benefit is already higher than the spousal amount, you just get your own. Our guide on comparing Social Security claiming ages shows how timing changes your own check, and our guide on working while receiving retirement benefits explains how a job can affect payments before full retirement age.

Divorced-spouse benefits

Divorce does not always end your right to a benefit on a former spouse's record. You may qualify if all of these are true (Social Security Administration, checked 2026-11-08):

If you married again, you cannot claim on your former spouse's record unless that later marriage has ended. If you qualify on your own record too, you get the higher of the two benefits, not both.

One rule helps many divorced people. If you have been divorced for at least two years, you can claim on your former spouse's record even if they have not filed for benefits yet. For a current spouse, the worker must be getting benefits first. For a divorced spouse of two years or more, that wait does not apply. The amount follows the same spousal math above: up to 50 percent at your full retirement age, and less if you claim early. Your claim does not change what your former spouse gets.

• You were married for at least 10 years.
• You are age 62 or older.
• You are not married now.
• Your former spouse can get Social Security retirement or disability benefits.

Survivor benefits after a spouse dies

When a spouse dies, the surviving spouse may get a monthly survivor benefit based on the worker's lifetime earnings. You can claim as early as age 60. If you have a disability, you can claim as early as age 50. At any age, you may qualify if you care for the deceased spouse's child who is under 16, or who had a disability before age 22 (Social Security Administration, checked 2026-11-08).

The age you claim sets the amount. Payments start at 71.5 percent of your spouse's benefit if you claim at age 60. They rise the longer you wait: over 75 percent at age 61, over 80 percent at age 63, and over 90 percent at age 65. At your full retirement age for survivor benefits, which falls between ages 66 and 67, you can get up to 100 percent. Unlike the spousal benefit, the survivor benefit is based on the higher amount if your spouse had waited and earned delayed credits.

Children can get survivor benefits too. A child generally gets 75 percent of the parent's benefit. There is a cap on how much one family can get in total, called the family maximum. A divorced surviving spouse does not count toward that cap.

A surviving spouse may also get a one-time payment of $255, called the lump-sum death payment. You must apply for it within two years of the date of death. Call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 to ask about it and about monthly benefits. You cannot apply for survivor benefits online. You need to make an appointment by phone. If you were already getting spousal benefits, Social Security will in most cases switch them to survivor benefits on its own and pay the lump sum as well.

One key choice sets survivor benefits apart. If you qualify for both a survivor benefit and your own retirement benefit, you can take one first and switch to the other later. For example, you could take the survivor benefit first and let your own benefit grow, then switch to your own benefit at age 70 when it is at its highest. You get one payment at a time, but the order is your choice. Our practical planning checklist for retirement can help you line up these choices side by side.

Survivor benefits for a divorced spouse

A divorced person can also get survivor benefits when a former spouse dies. The rules are close to the ones above. You must have been married for at least 10 years. You must be at least age 60, or age 50 if you have a disability. You must be single, unless you remarried after age 60. A remarriage after age 60 does not block the benefit. It also does not matter if your former spouse had remarried. Your benefit does not reduce what the worker's current spouse or other family members get.

If you work while you get survivor benefits and you are under full retirement age, an earnings limit applies and can lower your payment for a time. Ask Social Security how the limit works for your case before you claim.

Who covers what

• Social Security: Social Security pays all three benefits in this guide. The spousal benefit, the divorced-spouse benefit, and the survivor benefit all come from Social Security, based on the worker's earnings record. Medicare, Medicaid, and private pay do not pay these monthly benefits.
• Medicare: Medicare is health coverage, not income. It does not change the size of these benefits. Your Part B premium is often taken out of your Social Security check, so a change in your benefit can change what lands in your bank account.
• Medicaid: Medicaid does not pay spousal or survivor benefits. If your income is low, your state Medicaid program may help with Medicare costs. Rules vary by state, so ask your state office what help you can get.
• Private pay: These benefits replace only part of past earnings. Savings, a pension, or part-time work often fill the gap. There is no private plan that adds to a spousal or survivor benefit itself.

Sample Situation

Rosa is 63. She was married to her first husband, Tom, for 14 years before they divorced. She has not remarried. Tom is 66 and has not filed for benefits yet. Rosa has been divorced for more than two years, so she can claim a divorced-spouse benefit on Tom's record now, even though he has not filed. Her own benefit is small, so the divorced-spouse amount is higher. She knows claiming at 63 means a cut from the full 50 percent she could get at her full retirement age. She calls Social Security, asks for both figures in writing, and weighs the smaller check now against the larger check later. She also learns that if Tom dies, she could switch to a survivor benefit on his record, since their marriage lasted more than 10 years. She writes that down with her other papers so she does not forget.

Your next step

These benefits are part of your health cost picture too, because your Social Security check often pays your Medicare premium. If you want to see how a Medicare Supplement plan can help cover the costs Original Medicare leaves behind, start with our main section on Medicare Supplement plans. It shows what these plans cover and how they work next to your monthly benefits.

Sources

• https://www.ssa.gov/blog/en/posts/2024-07-11.html
• https://www.ssa.gov/oact/quickcalc/spouse.html
• https://www.ssa.gov/blog/en/posts/2026-10-27.html
• https://www.ssa.gov/survivor/amount
• https://www.ssa.gov/blog/en/posts/2026-10-29.html
• https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10084.pdf
• https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Elderly_Couple_Eating.jpg