{"id":38320,"date":"2024-11-21T01:41:57","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T01:41:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=38320"},"modified":"2024-11-21T01:41:58","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T01:41:58","slug":"ex-spousal-benefits-what-independently-entitled-means","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=38320","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Spousal Benefits: What \u2018Independently Entitled\u2019 Means"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Spousal benefits are commonly called family benefits; benefits available to family members.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s start with spousal benefits in order to truly understand ex-spousal benefits. Current spouses are eligible to receive 50% of their spouses Primary Insurance Amount at their full retirement age. For spousal benefits to be available to a current spouse, you need to meet the following criteria:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You need to be married at least one year.<\/li>\n<li>You both need to be at least 62 years old.<\/li>\n<li>One spouse needs to be receiving their Social Security benefit.<\/li>\n<li>The receiving spouses Primary Insurance Amount needs to be at least two times your Primary Insurance Amount.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Primary Insurance Amount is the amount you receive at your full retirement age.<\/p>\n<p>For example, if the receiving spouse\u2019s Primary Insurance Amount is $3,000 and yours is $1,000, you are entitled to a $500 spousal benefit at your full retirement age and receive a total benefit of $1,500.<\/p>\n<p>The whole key to receiving a spousal benefit as a current spouse is that one spouse needs to be receiving their benefit for a spousal benefit to be available to a current spouse. Usually, it is the higher earning spouse who is receiving their benefit.<\/p>\n<p>Now, let\u2019s talk about ex-spousal benefits. Basically, ex-spousal benefits are the same as current spousal benefits but the criteria to qualify is different. For ex-spousal benefits to be available to an ex-spouse, you need to meet the following criteria:<\/p>\n<p><fbs-ad position=\"inread\" progressive=\"\" ad-id=\"article-0-inread\" aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\"><\/fbs-ad><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You need to be single.<\/li>\n<li>You both need to be at least 62 years old.<\/li>\n<li>You need to have been married at least 10 years.<\/li>\n<li>The ex-spouses Primary Insurance Amount needs to be at least 2 times your Primary Insurance Amount.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Here is the difference between an ex-spouse and a current spouse. There are 2 categories of ex-spouse&#8217;s<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>If you are <strong><u>divorced less than 2 years<\/u><\/strong>, to qualify for ex-spouse benefits your ex-spouse must be receiving their benefit. This is exactly like a current spouse.<\/li>\n<li>If you are <strong><u>divorced more than 2 years<\/u><\/strong> you are considered <strong><u>\u201cindependently entitled\u201d<\/u><\/strong>. Your ex-spouse just needs to be eligible to claim benefits but does not need to be receiving their benefit in order for you to claim and receive your ex-spousal benefits.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Bottom line, if you are divorced two or more years and your ex-spouse qualifies for benefits, you can file for ex-spousal benefits. This is the difference between a current spouse and an ex-spouse. A current spouse can only file for spousal benefits if their spouse is receiving their own benefit. An ex-spouse can file for benefits even though their ex-spouse is not receiving their benefit as long as the ex-spouse is eligible to receive benefits, and you have been divorced 2 or more years.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"subhead-embed color-accent bg-base font-accent font-size text-align\">Also, keep in mind:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>If you remarry, you cannot collect benefits from any ex-spouse.<\/li>\n<li>If you are divorced from more than one spouse, you can claim benefits from the highest spouse.<\/li>\n<li>A divorced spousal benefit paid to an ex-spouse does not affect benefits available to a current spouse.<\/li>\n<li>The annual earnings limitation applies before your full retirement age.<\/li>\n<li>If you have another government pension, the Government Pension Offset will apply.<\/li>\n<li>There is no advantage to be gained by deferring collection past your full retirement age.<\/li>\n<li>Family Maximum does not apply.<\/li>\n<li>If ex-spouse remarries, has no impact on your ability to receive benefits.<\/li>\n<li>Divorced spouses can still collect benefits if ex-spouse voluntarily suspends their benefit.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Always remember, take the wrong benefit at the wrong time, it\u2019s always smaller and forever.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Read the full article <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/tomhager\/2024\/11\/20\/ex-spousal-benefits-what-independently-entitled-means\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" rel=\"nofollow\">here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Spousal benefits are commonly called family benefits; benefits available to family members. Let\u2019s start with spousal benefits in order to truly understand ex-spousal benefits. Current spouses are eligible to receive 50% of their spouses Primary Insurance Amount at their full retirement age. For spousal benefits to be available to a current spouse, you need to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-38320","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-retirement"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.12 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ex-Spousal Benefits: What \u2018Independently Entitled\u2019 Means | iSafeSpend<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Spousal benefits are commonly called family benefits; benefits available to family members. 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