Social Security may be one of your largest assets. What and when you collect will make a huge difference to your lifetime benefits.
Today’s Social Security question is about the ability to receive a widow(er)'s benefit after remarrying before 60 but then divorcing.
Question: Is it true that if you get remarried before age 60 and then divorced, you cannot, after age 60, collect divorcee widow(er) benefits on your first ex to whom you were married for 10 or more years.
Answer: You can get divorced after age 60, file for your divorcee widow(er) benefit, and remarry your current spouse. This sounds quasi illegal, but as far as I know it’s perfectly legal. If you do this, make it clear to Social Security in writing that this is what you intend to do.
My weekly Social Security column appears on PBS NEWSHOUR’s website.
