Getting Married or Divorced in 2025? Shocking Social Security Changes You Need to Know About

Although changing your marital status is always a decision that should be carefully considered, it can become considerably more difficult when you are receiving Social Security payments. Although love is the most essential factor, the paperwork may or may not be in your favor.

Eligibility for Spouse’s Benefits
When you marry, you may be eligible for spousal benefits, and if you have a small Social Security pension, your spouse may have a larger one. You can therefore consider having your Social Security benefits adjusted if you have been married for at least a year, provided that your spouse is currently receiving benefits. Unfortunately, in order to begin cashing a check, you will need to fulfill additional requirements. You must be:

• Be at least sixty-two years old.
• If you are providing care for a kid under 16 or who has a disability and is eligible for your spouse’s benefits, you can be of any age.

Although it is crucial to consider, many people will not automatically receive benefits in 2025 as a result of these criteria.

What is the greatest advantage to which you are entitled?
The earliest you can claim benefits as a spouse is age 62, and the greatest benefit you can earn is 50% of your spouse’s full retirement age (FRA) benefit, even if they postponed retirement to accrue more retirement credits. Before deciding to file a claim, be sure you have thought it through since once you do, it’s permanent.

However, some people may be eligible for greater money and early eligibility if they are caring for a dependent kid with their spouse in specific situations, such as:

• The child is under sixteen years old.
• The child is eligible for your spouse’s benefits since they have a disability.

When you apply for either your spouse’s or your retirement benefit, you are “deemed” to also apply for the other benefit, according to the Social Security Administration (SSA). In the past, they received a combination of benefits equal to the larger benefit if their spouse’s benefits exceeded their own retirement benefit. The fairness of the incentives to wait is maintained by this legal modification, but it means that you can’t have one kind of benefit and get paid for postponing the other.

Before, the SSA permitted the lower-earning spouse to continue receiving spousal benefits while allowing their benefit to increase. Once their benefit had reached its maximum and exceeded the spousal benefit, they would switch. This isn’t the case anymore. You will now receive your $1,000 monthly benefit, plus the $300 from your spouse’s benefit, for a total of $1,300 if you are qualified for $1,000 per month at full retirement age and would also be entitled to $1,300 from your spouse.

The Social Security Administration clarifies that there is an exception to this rule: “Deemed filing applies to retirement benefits, not survivor’s benefits.” You can begin your survivor benefit separately from your retirement benefit if you are a spouse. Additionally, if you are receiving spousal benefits because you are taking care of the retired worker’s child, or if you receive spouse’s benefits and are eligible for disability, deemed filing is not applicable.

Divorce considerations when obtaining Social Security
If an ex-spouse was married for ten years or more and is at least sixty-two years old, they are eligible for spousal payments. If you knew your ex’s current spouse would receive larger benefits, you might want to think about claiming them as it would not impact theirs. The problem arises when you decide to be married again. This benefit cannot be retained once you get married to someone else, and you have to reapply for benefits on your existing spouse’s record a year later. You can return to the original spouse’s advantage if you get divorced again.