When you marry someone in Georgia, one of you may need to sacrifice your own schooling or career for the sake of your partner or family unit. If you do this and then your marriage ends, it might impact your ability to collect Social Security retirement benefits once you reach the appropriate age on your own accord. If you are unable to qualify for Social Security retirement benefits on your own, you may, depending on the situation, be able to collect them using the earnings history of your ex-spouse.
According to CNBC, about 30% of the population does not realize they may be able to obtain Social Security retirement benefits via this method. However, if your former spouse qualifies for these benefits, you may be able to do the same using his or her work history if your marriage lasted long enough.
What determines eligibility
If your spouse worked enough hours in a position Social Security covers to qualify for benefits on his or her own, you should be able to get benefits based on your ex’s work record if your marriage lasted at least 10 years.
What determines how much you get
If you were to collect these benefits based on an ex’s earnings, the most you might get per month is half of how much he or she does. Thus, if you are also eligible for these benefits using your own earnings history, it may prove advantageous to compute how much you would take home based on your own earnings. Then, you may compare the two figures and opt for whichever one is higher.
Your ex should not take issue if you decide to collect these benefits on his or her work record, because your doing so has no effect on how much your ex collects per month.
