Can I Collect My Ex-Husband's Social Security? What the 10-Year Rule Means for You (2026)
The short answer
Yes, you can, if you fit the rule. And while he is alive, the most it pays is half of his full amount.
The federal rule says you must have been married "for at least 10 years immediately before your divorce became final." You also have to be single now, and 62 or older.
Social Security's own page caps it at "up to half" of his amount. Start early and it shrinks.
The best case is half of somebody else's benefit. The part with your name on it is the part you build.
That is the whole post. The rest is the proof.
What this guide answers
Can you really collect on your ex-husband's record?
Quick answer: yes, if the marriage lasted 10 years and you are single now. Nothing in the rule asks for his permission.
You still know his Social Security number by heart. It sat on every tax return you signed for years.
Social Security asks for it when you call for an estimate. Without it, they ask for his birth date and his parents' names.
This button books twenty minutes on video with me, about building something in your own name.
Twenty minutes, and you decide nothing on the call
Working out what comes next? Book the twenty minutes. I will answer whatever you ask.
You can always say no.Now his side. Usually he has to be getting his own benefit already.
If he has not filed yet, you can still claim. He must be at least 62, and you must be divorced at least 2 years. Social Security's staff manual says he "need not have filed a claim for benefits."
So the door is real. The question is what is behind it.
How much would you actually get?
Quick answer: at most half of his full amount, and only at your full retirement age. At 62 it is about a third.
Here is the math.
Say he would get $100 at his full retirement age. The most you can get is $50. That is only at your own full retirement age. If you were born in 1960 or later, that is 67.
Start at 62 and the rulebook cuts it. Claiming 3 years early takes 25 percent off. Claiming 2 more years early takes 10 percent more. And so your $50 becomes $32.50.
It does not come on top of your own check. Social Security says it plainly: "We don't add the payment amounts together." You get whichever is bigger.
If yours is already bigger than half of his, his record adds nothing. And there used to be a way to use both records.
What did a 2015 law take away from you?
Quick answer: taking his half while your own kept growing. If you were born on or after January 2, 1954, that is gone.
Under the old rule, at full retirement age, you could take only the ex-spouse check. Your own kept growing.
On November 2, 2015, a budget law changed that. Social Security's staff manual says it covers anyone born "January 2, 1954 or later."
Now, applying for one counts as applying for both. The manual calls it deemed filing.
That is you, and nobody asked you. And so what is left on his record is one choice: when to start.
There is one place the old choice still lives. Social Security's own watchdog reported on it this year.
What happens if he dies first?
Quick answer: it can rise to all of his amount, and your choice comes back. A March 2026 audit looked at how that choice gets handled.
If he dies, you claim as his surviving divorced spouse. Social Security says payments start at 71.5 percent of his benefit. They can reach 100 percent at your full retirement age.
The 2015 law skipped this one. The staff manual says deemed filing "does not apply to survivor benefits." So you could take his check first, then switch to your own at 70 if yours is bigger.
In March 2026, Social Security's own Inspector General reported on how the agency pays widows and widowers. It estimated the agency underpaid 8,618 of them about $50.4 million. It says staff got the math wrong when the spouse died before 62.
It also pulled 50 files where both checks started the same month. In 37, nobody wrote down whether the choice to wait was explained. The report says that does not mean nobody explained it.
But Social Security will not reopen those 37 claims. The report warns of outcomes that "may be irreversible."
The same office raised this in 2018. As of January 2026, the report says, the agency had added no "enhancements or new controls."
The rules are theirs, and so is the math.
Here it is in one table. The last row goes against me.
| What you hear | What the rules say | Where it says so |
|---|---|---|
| You get yours and his | "We don't add the payment amounts together" | Social Security, Family benefits |
| You can take his and let yours grow | Not if you were born on or after January 2, 1954 | Social Security staff manual |
| Your claim takes from his new wife | Payments to ex-spouses do not count toward the family maximum | Social Security, Family benefits |
Nobody hands you that table with the divorce papers. Keep it.
Isn't this just another pitch?
Quick answer: partly, and here is the part I will not dress up.
Social Security is not a monster. If he dies, it can pay you all of his amount. Your claim does not shrink his new family's checks. And the agency agreed to every fix in that audit.
So claim every bit you are owed. It is a floor, and you did not get to pick its height.
Switch to America is a private membership store. We are the manufacturer. No middlemen and no markup. No minimums, no maximums.
You pay what a brand new shopper pays. Not a penny less. And there is no list of ten people you know. I do not teach that.
I will not hand you a number to expect. Nobody honest can. And nothing I do will raise your Social Security by a cent.
What would I do first this week?
Quick answer: find your two dates and two numbers, then write down what is yours.
Find the two dates
Your wedding date, and the date the divorce became final. It has to be final on or after your 10th anniversary. Put both papers in one folder.
Ask for both numbers
Call Social Security. Ask for an estimate on his record and on yours. If yours is bigger than half of his, you are done in one call.
Write down what is in your own name
Not his record. Yours. The skills you still get asked about, the things that never had his name on them. Put the list on the fridge.
Ask five questions of whatever comes next
Including of me. What does it cost to start, all in. Is there a monthly requirement. What happens if I stop. Where is the income disclosure. Who gets paid when I start.
If somebody dodges one, that is your answer.
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Where to check me
- 20 CFR 404.331, the divorced spouse rule. Ten years married, single now, 62 or older. If he has not filed, he must be 62 or older and you 2 years divorced.
- Social Security, what you could get from Family benefits. "Up to half," and "We don't add the payment amounts together." Your ceiling, in their words.
- 20 CFR 404.410, how early benefits are cut. The 25 percent and the 10 percent. Check my math.
- Social Security's staff manual on deemed filing. The 2015 change for anyone born on or after January 2, 1954. The rules moved without you.
- Social Security Inspector General, report 032409, March 2026. By its estimate, 8,618 widows and widowers were underpaid about $50.4 million. And 37 sampled claims will not be reopened.
- Social Security, what you could get from Survivor benefits. 71.5 percent, rising to 100 percent. The receipt against my own argument.
The audit covered widows and widowers in general. If he dies, a widow's benefit is the claim you would file.
Here is what I want for you, whether or not we ever speak.
It is a weekday morning in November. The folder sits on the counter by your water glass. You make the call and write two numbers on an envelope. Then you go for a walk.
You become the one who knows her own numbers, and puts her own name on what comes next.
Twenty minutes, on video, no slides
You ask, I answer, including the awkward ones. If it is not for you I would rather find out on the call.
You can always say no, and there is no follow up if you do.What else are women asking me about this?
Can I collect his and then switch to mine?
Not the way it used to work. If you were born on or after January 2, 1954, applying for one counts as applying for both. You get whichever is bigger. The switch still works on a survivor claim.
What if I remarry?
In most cases, the ex-spouse check stops if you marry someone else. Survivor benefits are different. A wedding at 60 or later keeps that door open.
What if he remarries?
It does not change yours. Payments to ex-spouses do not count toward the family maximum. So your check and his new wife's do not shrink each other.
Can I collect it and still work?
Yes, with a yearly limit before your full retirement age. Social Security lists wages over $24,480 in 2026 as something to report. For 2027, the limit is $25,560. Earn above the limit and your payment is cut for a while.