Divorced After 10 Years of Marriage? You May Qualify for Social Security on Your Ex’s Record

Divorce ends a marriage. It does not always end your claim on the Social Security that marriage built. If the marriage lasted 10 years or more, you may be able to receive a monthly benefit on your former spouse's earnings record — even if you have not spoken in years, even if they remarried. Nothing about it comes out of their check.

Who Qualifies on an Ex's Record

To receive a divorced-spouse benefit while your ex is living, you must meet every test: (20 CFR §404.331; SSA Pub. 05-10035.)

• The marriage lasted 10 years or more, counted to the date the divorce became final. Nine years and 11 months carries nothing.
• You are not married now. The test is on you — your ex can be remarried.
• You are 62 or older.
• Your own benefit is smaller than the divorced-spouse amount.
• Your ex is receiving retirement or disability benefits — or is at least 62 and the divorce is at least two years old.

A current spouse cannot collect a spousal benefit until the worker files. Once you have been divorced for two continuous years and your ex is at least 62, you can claim on their record whether or not they have applied. (20 CFR §404.331(f); SSA Pub. 05-10035.) An ex who delays to 70 cannot delay you along with them.

You do not need your ex’s permission or cooperation. You file by contacting SSA or making an appointment. (SSA, If You Had a Prior Marriage.)

How Much: Up to Half of Your Ex's Full Benefit

The benefit is one-half of your ex's primary insurance amount — what they would receive at their own full retirement age — if you claim at your full retirement age, which is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. (20 CFR §404.333; §404.409; SSA, Family benefits.) Claim earlier and the half shrinks, month by month:

Your Age When You Claim	Share of Your Ex's Full Benefit
62	32.5%
63	35.0%
64	37.5%
65	41.7%
66	45.8%
67 or later	50.0%

(SSA, Born in 1960 or later; 20 CFR §404.410(b). Waiting past full retirement age adds nothing to a spousal benefit.)

On a round number: an ex whose full benefit is $2,800 a month supports $1,400 for you at 67, or $910 at 62. Your ex's own claiming age does not change it. If you qualify on your own record too, SSA pays your own benefit first and adds only the difference: a $1,000 benefit of your own plus a $1,400 divorced-spouse amount pays $1,400 in total, not $2,400. (SSA Pub. 05-10035.)

What It Costs Your Ex: Nothing

SSA's 2026 retirement booklet says the benefits a divorced spouse gets “don't affect the amount you or your current spouse can get.” (SSA Pub. 05-10035; Pub. 05-10044.) The mechanism is in the regulations. Social Security caps what one record can pay a family — the family maximum — and that cap can trim a current spouse's or child's check. A divorced spouse sits outside it, and everyone else on the record is figured as if the divorced spouse were not there. Your claim and your ex's household never touch. (20 CFR §404.403(a)(3); SSA, Family benefits.)

If Your Ex Dies: The Divorced Survivor Benefit

When a former spouse dies, the divorced-spouse benefit ends and a larger one can replace it. A surviving divorced spouse from a 10-year marriage has the same rights as a widow or widower, even if the ex had remarried: up to 100 percent of the deceased's benefit at survivor full retirement age, or as early as 60 at 71½ percent. Remarriage after 60 does not disqualify you; before 60 it generally does. Deemed filing does not apply here, so you can take one benefit first and switch to the other later. And your claim takes nothing from other survivors on the record. (20 CFR §404.336; SSA, Survivor eligibility; amount; Pub. 05-10084; SSA, July 2026.) The full arithmetic is in the survivor benefits guide.

The Fine Print That Matters

• Remarriage ends it. Marrying someone else ends the benefit on a living ex's record; the test is whether you are married now. (20 CFR §404.331(c); §404.332(b)(3).)
• More than one 10-year marriage. SSA pays the single highest benefit you are eligible for, never the amounts added together. Two marriages to the same person can count as one if you remarried by the calendar year after the divorce. (SSA, Family benefits; If You Had a Prior Marriage.)
• Working before full retirement age. In 2026, SSA withholds $1 of benefits for every $2 earned above $24,480, and $1 for every $3 above $65,160 in the year you reach full retirement age. From that month on, there is no limit. (SSA, COLA information for 2026.)

What This Does Not Mean

None of this says you should claim at 62, or at 67, or on your ex's record at all. For many people who worked steadily, their own benefit is larger than half of an ex's, and these rules never come into play — SSA notes that most divorced women collect on their own record while the ex is alive and look at the survivor rate later. (SSA Pub. 05-10044.) The dollar figures here are round-number illustrations, not anyone's estimate. What the rules do settle: a 10-year marriage keeps a door open, walking through it costs your ex nothing, and the arithmetic is knowable before you decide.

Sources

1. GPO — 20 CFR §404.331 (divorced spouse eligibility)
2. SSA — Program Operations Manual, RS 00202.005 (divorced spouse)
3. LII — 20 CFR §404.410 (reduction of spouse's benefits before full retirement age)
4. GPO — 20 CFR §404.403 (family maximum)
5. LII — 20 CFR §404.336 (surviving divorced spouse)
6. SSA — Publication 05-10035, Retirement Benefits (2026)
7. SSA — Publication 05-10044, What Every Woman Should Know
8. Federal Register — SSA, Cost-of-Living Increase and Other Determinations for 2026

Sources reviewed Sep 28, 2026. Figures are for 2026 unless noted.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I get Social Security from my ex-husband or ex-wife?

Yes, if the marriage lasted at least 10 years, you are unmarried, you are 62 or older, and your own benefit is smaller. Your ex must be receiving benefits, or be at least 62 with the divorce at least two years old.

Q: How much do I get on my ex's record?

Up to 50 percent of your ex's full-retirement-age benefit if you claim at your own full retirement age (67 if born in 1960 or later); 32.5 percent at 62. SSA pays the higher of your own benefit and this amount, not both.

Q: Does my claim reduce my ex's benefit, or their new spouse's?

No. SSA states that a divorced spouse's benefits do not affect what the worker or the worker's current spouse can get, and the family maximum is computed as if the divorced spouse were not on the record.

Q: What happens if my ex dies?

A surviving divorced spouse from a 10-year marriage can receive 71½ percent of the deceased's benefit at 60, rising to 100 percent at survivor full retirement age. Remarriage after 60 does not disqualify you.

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Keep reading

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General educational information, current as of 2026. Not personalized investment, tax, or legal advice — figures and rules change. For guidance specific to your situation, talk to a qualified professional. See our disclosures.