Will Social Security tell me when my ex-husband dies?

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Dear enny,

My ex-husband is 13 years older than me, and he has made more money in his career than me. We have been married for more than ten years, and I am not married yet.

I have consulted some social security planners. Because my social security benefits exceed 50% of his benefits, and I am likely to live ten years longer than him, they suggested that I claim social security with my own benefits as soon as possible, and charge higher survivor benefits when he passes away.

When my ex-wife applied for Social Security, he pointed out that I was his wife at the time, and I had income tax and divorce order as evidence that our cohabitation marriage lasted more than 10 years, so I planned to provide this information to “Social Insurance.” Security when I make a request next year.

My question to you: As he is alienated from me, will Social Insurance automatically notify me of his death so that I can switch to a higher survivor’s pension? If not, how can I know when to make the change?

Do you agree with the views of the two social security planners that based on our age and income differences, my best course of action is to receive my own benefits early, and then receive the survivor’s pension?

-K.

Dear K.,

I would not expect the Social Security Administration to connect the dots here.

Usually, the ritual hall will remind social insurance when someone dies. If someone is already claiming spouse benefits (in many cases, the former spouse can also use the benefits), Social Security Will automatically convert it to survivor benefits. The difference can be significant. The spouse subsidy can reach up to 50% of the person’s total subsidy, and the survivor can receive up to 100%.

Before going any further, let us first confirm the elephant in the room: planning social security benefits around the death of the former spouse may be a bit annoying. But this is not to cheer for your ex-husband’s death.Your goal is to make sure that you No benefits left on the table, This is a must for anyone who gets social security.

This is totally permissible Require social security for former spouse If you have been married for at least ten years, you have been divorced for two years and you have not remarried. The logic is that even if a spouse does not have a job or their income is greatly reduced, both spouses contribute financially.

This angered many people. But it really shouldn’t. If you get benefits in the records of your former spouse, the impact on their benefits or the benefits received by the surviving spouse will be zero.

The Social Security Administration reviews its records annually to see if the beneficiary is eligible for higher widow or widow benefits. But many people are in trouble. Last year, an internal social security audit found that about 15,000 people claimed to be eligible for higher survivors’ pensions based on their records.

So, how do you make sure that you are not one of them? One option is to set up a Google Alert for the ex-husband’s name. If you want to publish an online ob notice, you will receive a notification. This is not foolproof, and if he has a super common name, this may not be feasible.

Another good solution is to call Social Insurance every six months. As long as you have your ex-husband’s Social Security number, the agency should be able to determine if he is still alive. The reason for calling twice a year is that the Social Security Administration can pay retroactive benefits for up to six months, so if you learn that your ex-husband has recently passed away, you will be able to get back the survivor’s pension.

to get Survivor’s Pension, You must fill out a new application by phone or visit your local office. Cannot apply for survivor benefits online. Keep the existing documents as you will need to provide a marriage certificate.

In the end, I am not too worried about how you find the death of your ex-husband. In this digital age, this type of information tends to spread quickly.

What worries me even more is that you plan to receive your pension immediately when you are 62 years old. The reality is that about half of the elderly depend on social security for at least 50% of their income. By benefiting at the age of 62, you earn about 76% less monthly income than at the age of 70.

Statistically speaking, yes, you may live longer than your ex-husband. However, you cannot make such an important financial decision based solely on the life expectancy table. Your ex-husband may live to be 95 or 100 years old. Are you ready to live on your low income for 20 years or more?

I will not make any decisions under the assumption that there will be higher survivor benefits at some point. If you can get permanently reduced benefits in the foreseeable future, you can only start participating in social insurance next year.

Robin Hartill is a registered financial planner and senior writer for The Penny Hoarder.Send your tough money questions to [email protected].


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