Who can get a spousal benefit
- Married at least 1 year and age 62 or older, or any age if caring for the worker's child who is 15 or younger or has a disability and gets benefits on the worker's record.
- Your spouse must be receiving retirement or disability benefits. If they have not started, you wait.
- Ex-spouses may qualify if the marriage lasted at least 10 years.
Up to half, reduced if you start early
The full spousal benefit is 50 percent of the worker's primary insurance amount, the benefit they would get at their full retirement age. It is reduced by 25/36 of 1 percent for each month you start before your own full retirement age, up to 36 months, and by 5/12 of 1 percent for each month beyond that. With a full retirement age of 67, which applies to anyone born in 1960 or later, and the SSA's example of a worker with a $1,600 primary insurance amount:
| Start at age | Months early | Share of worker's amount | On a $1,600 amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62 | 60 | 32.5% | $520 |
| 63 | 48 | 35% | $560 |
| 64 | 36 | 37.5% | $600 |
| 65 | 24 | 41.67% | $667 |
| 66 | 12 | 45.83% | $733 |
| 67 | 0 | 50% | $800 |
The 62 row matches the SSA's own figures: as little as 32.5 percent, or $325 of a $500 spouse's benefit. Amounts are rounded to whole dollars. If you are caring for a qualifying child, the spousal benefit is not reduced. People born before 1960 have a full retirement age between 66 and 67, covered in Social Security full retirement age.
Why waiting past full retirement age does not help
Your spouse can earn delayed retirement credits by starting their own benefit after full retirement age, but your maximum stays at 50 percent of their full retirement age amount. On your side, the SSA says the payment rises the longer you wait only up until your own full retirement age. Payments to you do not reduce your spouse's own benefit.
If you also have your own benefit
You do not get both in full. The SSA pays your own retirement benefit first and, if the spouse's benefit is higher, adds the difference. In the SSA's example, Sandy has her own $1,000 benefit and a $1,250 spouse's benefit at full retirement age; she gets her $1,000 plus $250, a total of $1,250. Applying for one counts as applying for the other, which the SSA calls deemed filing.
Other rules worth knowing
- Family maximum: payments to the spouse and children on one record are capped, and theirs are lowered if needed. Payments to ex-spouses do not count toward that cap.
- Earnings limit: working while getting family benefits before full retirement age can temporarily reduce payments.
- Medicare: you may get Medicare on your spouse's work record at 65; the costs are in Medicare costs 2026.
- Taxes: spousal benefits count toward the rules in how Social Security benefits are taxed.
When a spouse dies, different rules apply, with up to 100 percent of the worker's benefit; see Social Security survivor benefits. The retirement savings calculator and budget planner help fit the amount into a household plan.
Frequently asked questions
How much is the Social Security spousal benefit?
Up to half of the amount your spouse is eligible for at their full retirement age, the SSA says. You get the full half if you start at your own full retirement age; starting earlier reduces it permanently, to as little as 32.5 percent at 62.
Can I get my own retirement benefit and a spousal benefit?
Not added together. If you are eligible for both, the SSA pays your own benefit first and, if the spouse's benefit is higher, adds enough to bring the total to the higher spouse's amount. Applying for one counts as applying for the other, which the SSA calls deemed filing.
Does my spouse waiting until 70 raise my spousal benefit?
No. Delayed retirement credits raise your spouse's own benefit, but your maximum spouse's benefit stays at 50 percent of their full retirement age amount, according to the SSA. A surviving spouse benefit, by contrast, is based on the higher amount.
Can a divorced spouse get spousal benefits?
Yes, if the marriage lasted at least 10 years, per the SSA. Payments to ex-spouses do not count toward the family maximum, so they do not lower what the worker's current family gets.
Does my spouse have to be receiving benefits?
Yes. Your spouse must be receiving retirement or disability benefits for you to get benefits on their record, according to the SSA; otherwise you have to wait.
Sources
- Social Security Administration, Office of the Chief Actuary: Benefits for spouses (age 62 or a qualifying child in care, up to half of the worker's primary insurance amount, no reduction with a qualifying child, the reduction of 25/36 of 1% and 5/12 of 1% per month, as little as 32.5% at 62, the $1,600 example)
- SSA: Do you qualify for Social Security spouse's benefits? (July 11, 2024: spouse must be receiving benefits; delayed retirement credits do not raise the spouse's maximum; deemed filing and the $1,000 and $1,250 example; payments to family do not reduce the worker's benefit; divorced spouses after 10 years)
- SSA: Who can get Family benefits (married at least 1 year; age 62, a child 15 or younger, or a child with a disability in care; ex-spouses married at least 10 years)
- SSA: What you could get from Family benefits (up to half, Medicare at 65 on the family member's record, the higher amount is paid, earnings limits, the family maximum and ex-spouses)
- SSA: Retirement age and benefit reduction (full retirement age 67 for people born 1960 and later; a $500 spouse's benefit reduced to $325 at 62)
General information based on the sources above, not tax, legal or financial advice.