Q. After almost 10 years of marriage, my divorce has been finalized, but unfortunately the marriage ended a few months ago, 10 years ago. This means that unless I have a 10-year marriage, I am not eligible to benefit my spouse from Social Security. My ex worked for several years enough to qualify for Social Security benefits, so I know that when the marriage lasted for 10 years, the spouse’s benefit qualification was ultimately qualified. My question is whether there are any exceptions to the 10-year rule.
A. I asked a Social Security expert who deals with the exception to the 10-year minimum for marriage to qualify for spouse and survivor benefits. They only realised one exception. The exception applies if an individual divorced prior to the end of a 10-year marriage is caring for children from a marriage under the age of 16, or if he is disabled and is eligible for child benefits. This situation exempts 10-year marriage and age requirements. Under these conditions, divorced individuals will be eligible for the interests of their spouse until their children are 16 years old.
In this case, the letter writer was not entitled to the interests of the spouse, but I would like to inform other individuals who had not continued their marriage ten years before the divorce that they could be subject to the interests of the spouse if they were to care for children under the age of 16.
Q. I currently receive pensions for work carried out outside of the Social Security System. I have worked outside of Social Security for several years, and the amount of work I did was not enough to qualify for Social Security benefits. Therefore, I never applied for profit based on my work history. Also, I never applied for spousal benefits because the pension I received was too high to receive. I knew that two-thirds of my pension benefits exceeded 50% of my husband’s Social Security benefits. However, when Congress abolished the government’s pension offset (GPO) last year, when it had the effect of removing two-thirds of offsets, I then knew I was entitled to the benefits of my spouse. I applied for my spouse’s benefit and now I’m receiving it. I have realized that profits will be retroactively paid by January 1, 2023. However, we did not receive retroactive payments. When I asked a Social Security representative, I was told that I had never applied for spouse benefits before and had no right to retrospective spouse benefits. Why should I be punished because I understand the previous provisions of the GPO and didn’t apply for benefits that I was not entitled to?
A. Under the new SSA regulations, those who had not previously requested a spouse’s benefit prior to the abolition of the GPO are correct that they are not eligible for retroactive payments. I agree that it doesn’t seem fair. But that’s how the law was written.
If you have a pension from a job other than Social Security and are not benefiting your spouse, then apply for your spouse’s benefit if your spouse receives Social Security benefits based on your work records. Based on the emails I received, many individuals who are eligible to gain the benefit of their spouse for the first time due to the abolition of GPOs have nevertheless applied for the benefit they are entitled to.
Elliot Raphaelson welcomes your questions and comments at rapelliot@gmail.com.
