Most Men Don’t Know They Can Claim Social Security on an Ex-Wife’s Record. At 67, He Learned He Could, No Permission Needed.

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The Assumption That Costs Men Money

He is 67, divorced after a 14-year marriage, and currently single. For years he assumed divorced-spouse Social Security was something only women claimed on a former husband’s record. His ex-wife earned more than he did during their marriage and well after, and he never gave a second thought to whether her work history could matter to his retirement. On a financial forum recently, a man in nearly the same spot posted that he had spent two years leaving money on the table because nobody, not even his accountant, mentioned the option.

The rule is gender-neutral. A divorced man can claim on his ex-wife’s record under the same terms a divorced woman can claim on her ex-husband’s. He does not need her permission. He does not need to tell her. He does not even need to know where she lives.

What Actually Qualifies Him

Three conditions decide whether a divorced-spouse benefit is on the table:

1. The marriage lasted at least 10 years.
2. He is currently unmarried (a later marriage that ended also clears this).
3. He is at least 62.

He meets all three of those criteria. The benefit is worth up to 50% of his ex-wife’s primary insurance amount (PIA), which is the figure she would receive at her own full retirement age (FRA). If her primary insurance amount is roughly $2,900, his divorced-spousal benefit tops out around $1,450 a month at his FRA of 67. Claiming earlier shrinks it. Waiting past his full retirement age does not grow it, because spousal benefits do not earn delayed retirement credits the way a worker’s own benefit does.

The Rule Most People Miss

The piece that surprises almost everyone is the independently entitled rule. If a couple has been divorced for at least two years, the ex-spouse does not have to have filed for her own benefit. She just has to be at least 62 and eligible. That is the divorced-spouse exception, and it does not exist for currently married couples, where one spouse must file before the other can collect a spousal benefit.

In practice, this means he can walk into a Social Security office with his marriage certificate and divorce decree, ask to file on his ex-wife’s record, and the agency calculates the benefit from its own data. She is not made aware. Her check does not shrink by a penny. Her current husband, if she has one, sees no change in his own spousal benefit either. The system treats each claim as independent.

How It Fits With His Own Benefit

Social Security pays the higher of a worker’s own retirement benefit and the spousal one rather than combining them. If his own benefit at 66 works out to $1,700, he gets that and the divorced-spousal path becomes irrelevant. If his own benefit is closer to $1,100, the ex-wife’s record gives him roughly $350 more a month, which the 2.8% 2026 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will lift further each January it applies.

Deemed filing matters here too. When he claims, Social Security treats him as filing for both his own retirement and the divorced-spousal benefit at the same time, and pays the larger. He cannot collect one now and switch to the other later just to time the math. The one true switch comes if his ex-wife dies first: a divorced-survivor benefit, worth up to 100% of her record, may then replace the spousal benefit he was receiving. Survivor benefits follow different rules and can be claimed separately from his own.

What He Should Do Before Filing

Two practical moves matter more than the rest. First, he should pull the marriage certificate and the divorce decree before visiting Social Security, because he will need documentation of both the 10-year duration and legal end of the marriage. Second, he should ask Social Security to compute both benefits side by side, his own and the divorced-spousal, so the choice is grounded in actual figures rather than estimates.

The mistake hardest to undo is filing for his own retirement benefit early without knowing the divorced-spousal option existed. Once a smaller benefit locks in, the monthly figure follows him for life. Every situation has its own wrinkles, and a quick call to Social Security with the specific dates of marriage and divorce in hand is usually time well spent.

The post Most Men Don’t Know They Can Claim Social Security on an Ex-Wife’s Record. At 67, He Learned He Could, No Permission Needed. appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..