Spousal Social Security Benefits: 3 Things All Retired Couples Should Know

Key Points

• You must meet eligibility requirements to qualify for Social Security spousal benefits.

• It's possible to be dually eligible for retirement and spousal benefits, though you'll only get one of the two.

• Your claiming age significantly affects the size of your spousal benefit.

• The $23,760 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook ›

There are a lot of advantages to being married. One of them is the opportunity to claim two Social Security checks in retirement. This takes some of the financial burden off your plate and helps you stretch your own savings farther.

But it also means you need to be more strategic about how you and your partner approach your benefits if you want to maximize how much you get. You also have to understand the following three things about Social Security spousal benefits and how they differ from retirement benefits.

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1. Eligibility requirements

Qualifying for Social Security spousal benefits isn't always as simple as tying the knot. This is all you need to do if you're the parent of your partner's child or if you were eligible for Social Security or railroad retirement benefits in the month prior to your marriage. If neither of these things apply to you, you technically won't qualify for spousal benefits until you reach your first anniversary.

Divorced people may be eligible for spousal benefits on their ex's work record, provided they were married for at least 10 years before divorcing. The person hoping to claim on their ex's work record also cannot have remarried.

One final limitation is that you cannot claim a spousal benefit until your partner has applied for checks. There is an exception for divorced individuals. As long as you've been divorced from your ex for at least two years, you can apply for spousal benefits even if they're not claiming yet.

2. What happens when you're dually eligible for benefits

If you're married and you and your partner worked long enough to earn 40 credits, where one credit is defined as $1,810 in earnings in 2025 and you can earn a maximum of four credits per year, you are considered dually eligible for benefits. That means you've met the criteria to earn a retirement benefit and a spousal benefit. But the government doesn't give you the total of the two. Instead, you get the larger amount.

If your partner has already signed up for Social Security, then when you apply, the Social Security Administration will automatically give you an amount equal to the larger of your retirement benefit or your spousal benefit. If your spouse signs up after you, you may have to contact the Social Security Administration and request that it switch you to a spousal benefit if you believe this would be worth more than what you're currently getting.

3. How your claiming age affects your checks

To qualify for your maximum spousal benefit, you must wait to apply for Social Security until you reach your full retirement age (FRA). This is 67 for most workers today. However, if you were born before 1960, you have a younger FRA.

It's possible to apply for benefits as early as 62, but claiming early carries a penalty. For those with an FRA of 67, signing up as soon as possible will shrink your retirement benefit by 35%. That would drop a $1,000 spousal benefit to $650 per month.

If you wait until your FRA to apply for a spousal benefit, you'll qualify for one-half of the retirement benefit your partner is eligible for at their own FRA. That's the most you can receive. Unlike retirement benefits, which continue growing for every month you delay until you turn 70, you can't earn delayed retirement credits on spousal benefits.

You can estimate how much your retirement and spousal benefit will be based on your work history to date through your my Social Security account. There are tools here that can show you how much you could qualify for at every claiming age. You can even adjust the estimates of your future earnings to see how this changes. If you know the amount your partner qualifies for at their FRA (which they can get from their own my Social Security account), then you can enter this information and calculate your own spousal benefit as well.

It's a good idea to sit down with your spouse and talk about when each of you would like to claim Social Security so you're on the same page. Make sure you understand how your decision will affect the monthly benefit you receive and your partner's ability to claim a benefit on your work record. If you have any questions, don't be afraid to contact the Social Security Administration for help.

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