I’m 71 and Collecting Social Security. Can I Switch to Half of My Husband’s Benefit When He Retires?

Social Security is confusing enough for one person. For married couples, the options are often even more complicated, with spousal benefits and survivor’s benefits potentially in play.

Sometimes adding to that confusion is a 2015 federal law that changed the process of how some lower-earning spouses apply for benefits. This was the case for Money Talks News reader Stevie B.

Stevie asks:

“I’m 71 years old, retired and collecting Social Security since I was 65. The benefit I receive is not very large due to a spotty work history. My husband is 66, still employed and plans on applying for Social Security at 70. He will be entitled to a much larger benefit than me. My understanding of the law is that I can apply for 1/2 of his benefit instead of my own, but only once he applies for it. Is that correct? In other words, I must wait till he is 70 and applies for his benefit before I can switch from my benefit to applying for 1/2 of his?”

It’s true that a married person can generally collect up to half of their spouse’s Social Security full retirement benefit (meaning the amount they’d receive if they claimed at their full retirement age) if their own benefit is lower. However, most people cannot collect their own benefit first and then apply for their spousal benefit amount at a later time — at least not anymore.

Under current law, when someone in your situation reaches their full retirement age and applies for their own benefits, the Social Security Administration (SSA) reviews both amounts to determine which amount is higher:

The claimant’s own retirement benefit (meaning the benefit amount the claimant would qualify for based on their own earnings record)
The claimant’s spousal benefit (meaning the benefit amount the claimant would qualify for based on their spouse’s earnings record)

This is known as deemed filing and applies to anyone who turned 62 on or after Jan. 2, 2016. It stems from that 2015 change to federal law.

Someone cannot claim a lower benefit amount first and then apply again when they’re older for their spousal benefit unless they were born before that date.

So, Stevie, if your own benefit was lower than half of your spouse’s full retirement benefit when you first applied, SSA would have combined your benefit amount and an additional amount to bring your benefit up to half of your spouse’s.

Deemed filing means that when you apply for your own benefit, you are “deemed” to have applied for both your own and your spousal benefit at the same time. Thus, SSA automatically gives you the higher of the two amounts at that time.

Since you are receiving your benefits already and are over age 70, it’s a likely bet you are already receiving the higher benefit per the deemed benefit rule. If you are unsure about how your benefits are calculated, contact a Social Security representative to learn more about how your benefit amount was determined.