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SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFIT'S FOR DIVORCES, WIDOWS SPOUSES.
David -- Calabasas, Calif.: My question is about a wife who receives a Social Security disability benefit. The husband, who's turning 65 in December, has applied for his Social Security benefits, but the Social Security Administration says that the wife's disability benefit will terminate once the husband receives his retirement benefit. This doesn't seem right, but I cannot locate anything on this situation. Help, please.
Larry Kotlikoff: It doesn't seem right for a good reason. It's not. The wife's eligibility for a disability benefit doesn't depend on the husband's taking his Social Security retirement benefit. Her eligibility for receiving an excess spousal benefit, in addition to her disability benefit, is conditional on the husband filing for his retirement benefit.
Perhaps the Social Security staffer was referencing what happens to the wife's disability benefit when she, not her husband, reaches full retirement age. At this point, unless the wife withdraws her retirement benefit, her disability benefit automatically converts to her retirement benefit.
The wife, in the situation you describe, can choose to not take her excess spousal benefit and withdraw her retirement benefit when she reaches full retirement age, then apply, at full retirement age, just for spousal benefits, and wait until age 70 to restart her retirement benefit, at which point it will be 32 percent higher (and adjusted for inflation).
Sydne -- Pottstown, Pa.: My husband will be 62 next February. I am 60 and have been the higher wage earner for many years. He is a farmer and I'm a nurse. With what I've been reading, it sounds like, if necessary, it would be best for my husband to apply for his retirement benefits early, and then check when I turn 66 to see if the spousal benefits would be greater than his reduced retirement benefits. Does that sound right? (I provide health benefits through my employer.) ETC..
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