When a client is considering marriage or remarriage one important issue regards Social Security. One of the parties will possibly have a higher Social Security earning record than the other, and possibly these earnings occurred during the time of an earlier marriage. It’s not uncommon for a person to think that benefits will be lost if a remarriage occurs.
Generally, if you remarry prior to age 60, you are not eligible for benefits based on your former spouse’s earning record. However, if you divorce after ten years of marriage, and your second marriage ends before you obtain the age of 60, your benefits based upon your first spouse’s earning record will be restored.
Further, when you reach the age of 62, you may choose to collect a so-called spousal benefit. This is based on your new spouse’s earnings record, or possibly upon your own earnings record, whichever amount is larger. If you remarry after the age of 60, you will be eligible to receive a spousal benefit based on the earnings record of your deceased spouse, the spousal benefit of your current spouse, or the benefit based on your own work record, whichever is the larger amount.
However, a potential remarriage situation begs the question as to what will happen if your new spouse dies. If that happens, you will then be eligible for a spousal benefit if you are at least at the age of 60, (or 50 if you are disabled,) as long as the marriage lasted at least nine months, or if your spouse had an accidental death, or if you had a child together. Also, if you adopt a child together, you will be able to obtain the benefits as well. You must be unmarried at the time of your application in order to obtain that benefit.
If you have any questions relative to the elections and options, you should Social Security office, and most of the claims representatives are very helpful and knowledgeable in providing you with answers or proposed calculations of the amounts upon which you may claim. Also, the Social Security Administration has a well-organized and detailed website that provides you with answers and is easily navigated.
Of course, there are many other issues that have to be reviewed, such as family issues, life insurance, health insurance, disability insurance, loss of prior alimony payments, and long-term care issues, as well as tax issues that need to be reviewed prior to one taking on a spouse or a second spouse. As always, good legal and tax assistance should be obtained before making these decisions, and very often, an insurance professional should also be consulted in these situations.
Hyman G. Darling, Esq.
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