Social Security on your ex’s record.

The statute itself defines the term the same way. Social Security Act s. 216(d)(1) reads: "The term 'divorced wife' means a woman divorced from an individual, but only if she had been married to such individual for a period of 10 years immediately before the date the divorce became effective." Section 216(d)(4) uses the same words for a "divorced husband." Read at https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/ssact/title02/0216.htm . On marrying the same person twice, Social Security's own claims help page says: "If you were married to the same person more than once during a 10 year period, you or your ex-spouse may still qualify. We can count those marriages as one if you remarried no later than the calendar year after the year the divorce became final." (https://www.ssa.gov/help/iClaim_marriagePrior.html)

Social Security's own Handbook says the same thing in plainer words: "The divorced spouse of a worker who is not entitled to retirement or disability insurance benefits, but has reached age 62 and is fully insured, can become independently entitled to benefits on the worker's earnings record. To do so, however, the divorced spouse must meet the requirements in (B)-(F) above and have been divorced from the worker for not less than two continuous years." (SSA Handbook s. 311, https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.03/handbook-0311.html) Social Security's blog puts it this way: "You can apply for benefits on your former spouse's record even if they have not retired, as long as you have been divorced at least two years before applying." (https://blog.ssa.gov/ex-spouse-benefits-and-you/)

The statute matches: Social Security Act s. 202(b)(1) requires that the divorced wife "has filed application for wife's insurance benefits," "has attained age 62," "is not married," and "is not entitled to old-age or disability insurance benefits, or is entitled to old-age or disability insurance benefits based on a primary insurance amount which is less than one-half of the primary insurance amount of such individual" (https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/ssact/title02/0202.htm). Note one difference from a current spouse: a divorced spouse cannot be paid before 62 even if a child of the worker is in their care. The Handbook says: "You are not entitled before age 62 even if you have an entitled child in care."

The same actuarial page sets out the reduction: a spouse who claims at 62 may receive "as little as 32.5 percent of the worker's primary insurance amount," and the reduction runs at "25/36 of one percent for each month before normal retirement age, up to 36 months. If the number of months exceeds 36, then the benefit is further reduced 5/12 of one percent per month." On the ceiling, Social Security's family benefits page says: "You could get up to half of the benefit amount your family member would get at their Full Retirement Age" (https://www.ssa.gov/family/amount). On not stacking, the same page says: "If you can get other Social Security benefits besides Family, we'll pay you the highest amount you're eligible for. We don't add the payment amounts together."

The money point is confirmed twice over. Social Security's family benefits page adds: "Payments to ex-spouses don't count toward the family maximum" (https://www.ssa.gov/family/amount), and its survivor benefits page says the same for survivors: "Ex-spouses don't count toward the family maximum" (https://www.ssa.gov/survivor/amount). What we could not confirm is the notification question. We searched Social Security's site, its claims help pages, and its published staff instructions, and found no official statement saying either that your former spouse is told you applied or that they are not told. Because a wrong answer here could matter a great deal to someone who is afraid of contact, we are leaving it unanswered rather than guessing. If it matters to you, ask Social Security directly at 1-800-772-1213.

The disability route carries its own timing rule, quoted from the same regulation: "Your disability started not later than 7 years after the insured died or 7 years after you were last entitled to mother's or father's benefits or to widow's or widower's benefits based upon a disability, whichever occurred last." The caring-for-a-child route is a different benefit (mother's or father's benefits) under 20 C.F.R. s. 404.340, which requires that "You have in your care the insured's child who is under age 16 or disabled, is your natural or adopted child, and is entitled to child's benefits on the insured person's record" – and notably does not require a 10-year marriage (https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/cfr20/404/404-0340.htm). On amount, Social Security says: "Payments start at 71.5% of your spouse's benefit and increase the longer you wait to apply… You can get up to 100% when you reach your Full Retirement Age for Survivor benefits (between ages 66-67)" (https://www.ssa.gov/survivor/amount). Its survivors booklet states that a surviving spouse caring for a child younger than 16 "gets 75% of the worker's benefit amount" (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10084.pdf).

The rule that only the highest benefit is paid is confirmed, and Social Security repeats it on its public pages: "we'll pay you the highest amount you're eligible for. We don't add the payment amounts together" (https://www.ssa.gov/family/amount), and "If you're eligible for Survivor and another benefit, you'll choose the payment that's best for you. The payments won't be added together. You can also switch benefits later" (https://www.ssa.gov/survivor/amount). What we could not find on an official page is a sentence written specifically about a claimant with two separate 10-year marriages. The general highest-benefit-only rule plainly covers it, but because Social Security has not said so in those words, we have marked this less than fully settled. A claims representative can tell you which record pays more – give them both former spouses' Social Security numbers, or their dates of birth and parents' names if you do not have the numbers.

Social Security's survivors booklet says it plainly: "But remarriage after age 60 (or age 50 if you have a disability) won't prevent you from getting benefit payments based on your former spouse's work" (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10084.pdf). Its eligibility page phrases the same rule as "Didn't remarry before age 60 (age 50 if you have a disability)" (https://www.ssa.gov/survivor/eligibility). For a living former spouse, Social Security's blog says: "If you've remarried, you can't collect benefits on your former spouse's record unless your later marriage ended by annulment, divorce, or death" (https://blog.ssa.gov/ex-spouse-benefits-and-you/). Social Security's staff instructions add a narrow carve-out: "The marriage of a divorced spouse will terminate entitlement to such benefits unless the marriage is to an individual entitled to widow(er)'s, mother's, father's, CDB, divorced spouse's, or parents benefits" (POMS RS 00202.045, https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0300202045).

Social Security's public page on the change says: "The Act was signed into law on January 5, 2025. The Act ends the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO)" and "December 2023 is the last month that WEP and GPO will apply. This means that those rules no longer apply to benefits payable for January 2024 and later" (https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/social-security-fairness-act.html). The public law itself is Public Law 118-273, and its effective-date section reads: "The amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to monthly insurance benefits payable under title II of the Social Security Act for months after December 2023" (https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-118publ273/html/PLAW-118publ273.htm). A great deal of older writing online still describes the offset as current law. It is not.

The same page lists the documents: "Birth certificate or other proof of birth; Proof of U.S. citizenship or lawful alien status if you were not born in the United States; U.S. military discharge paper(s) if you had military service before 1968; W-2 forms(s) and/or self-employment tax returns for last year. Final divorce decree, if applying as a divorced spouse; and Marriage certificate." It adds: "We accept photocopies of W-2 forms, self-employment tax returns or medical documents, but we must see the original of most other documents, such as your birth certificate." On survivor claims, Social Security's own material states that the application cannot be completed online and must be made by phone or at a local office, and that "It's important for the spouse or divorced spouse to contact Social Security as soon as possible" (https://www.ssa.gov/marketing/assets/materials/benefits-death-of-a-spouse-or-divorced-spouse.pdf). On the former spouse's Social Security number, Social Security says: "Tell the representative your family member's Social Security number. If you don't have it, you'll be asked for other information, like their date of birth and parents' names" (https://www.ssa.gov/family/amount). Form SSA-10 is the corresponding information page for widow's, widower's, or surviving divorced spouse's benefits (https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ssa-10.html).