Getting Married or Divorced in 2025? What To Know If You Collect Social Security

Employed American workers earn Social Security credits, which translate to income you’ll receive at retirement age , somewhere between 62 and 70, typically.

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Marriage and divorce affect your Social Security in some key ways that are worth thinking about if you plan — or stumble into — a marriage or divorce in 2025.

Read on to find out what you need to know if wedding bells are ringing or the divorce attorney is calling .

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Qualifying for Spouse’s Benefits

One of the perks of being married, especially if you didn’t earn enough Social Security credits to get benefits on your own — or if your benefit amount is small — is that you might be able to receive spousal benefits. This essentially bumps up your benefits based on what your spouse qualifies for.

For most people, this requires at least a year of marriage under your belt, according to the Social Security Administratio n (SSA). And, of course, your spouse needs to be receiving benefits for you to take advantage of their work record.

You also need to be one or more of the following:

• Aged 62 or older
• Any age if you are caring for a child under the age of 16 or who has a disability and is entitled to your spouse’s benefits — i.e. this is your child together by birth, adoption, guardianship or similar.

So getting married in 2025 is not likely to enable you to get those spousal benefits in that year, unless you share a dependent child, as you wouldn’t have been married for a full year. But if you can hang in there for a decade or more, you’ll be good.

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This Is the Maximum You Can Receive

If you are eligible for spousal benefit as early as 62, the most you can expect to receive is 50% of your spouse’s full retirement age (FRA) benefit, even if they delayed their retirement to get more retirement credits. And once you sign up to receive this benefit, it is permanent, so be very sure you’re making the right choice when you do file for this.

If You Care for a Dependent Child, You May Qualify Sooner

There is an exception whereby you may be entitled to spousal benefits before age 62: if you are caring for a dependent child with your spouse under certain circumstances.

• The child is younger than age 16.
• The child has a disability and is entitled to your spouse’s benefits.
• Payments to family members do not decrease your spouse’s retirement or disability benefit.

But you’ll have to apply to find out your eligibility.

Deemed Filing Benefits May Qualify You for More Money

Things get a little more interesting for eligible people whose spousal benefits are less than half of your spouse’s FRA benefit, in what they call a “deemed filing.” You first must be eligible for retirement benefits from your own employment history.

In this case, you can expect to get a combination of benefits that equals the higher spouse’s benefit. This is designed to help, for example, a parent who stayed home to raise children and took years off full-time employment or had to take a sabbatical due to illness, to name a couple.

To lay this out, say you’re eligible for $1,000 per month and your spouse’s benefit of $1,300. If you wait to take your Social Security benefits until your FRA, you’ll get that $1,000 per month, and the SSA will add the $300 from your spouse’s benefit, so you’ll get $1,300, because yours is less than half of your spouse’s FRA benefit.

Considerations for Getting Divorced

While nobody gets married with the intention to get divorced, life happens, and sometimes differences truly are irreconcilable.

If you are getting divorced in 2025 from a spouse you were married to for more than ten years and are at least 62 years old, you may be eligible for some of your spouse’s benefits, as well. Alternatively, they may be eligible for yours, depending on who has the higher benefit. And you won’t get yours plus your spouse’s, but the higher amount that you’re eligible for.

There’s also one very big caveat here: You can’t get remarried and maintain these benefits. Once you say “I do” again, the SSA says “we don’t.”

As a good rule of thumb, anytime you plan to entangle your finances with another, it’s a good idea to seek some financial advice from a trusted professional first, so that you aren’t working these details out in a lawyer’s office later.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com : Getting Married or Divorced in 2025? What To Know If You Collect Social Security