Married couples have an advantage when it comes to Social Security. It’s called the “spousal benefit.” It allows the lower-earning spouse to collect up to 50% of the higher-earning spouse’s benefit at full retirement age.

Even if you are divorced, you still have the ability to collect Social Security spousal benefits based on your former spouse’s earnings. To qualify all of the following must be true:

—Your marriage lasted at least ten years
—You are currently unmarried
—You are 62 or older
—Your former spouse is entitled to Social Security benefits
—Your own benefits are less than the benefits you would receive based on your ex-spouse’s

There are also other factors that would affect your spousal benefits, such as whether you were born before 1954, whether your ex-spouse has applied for retirement benefits yet, and whether you have reached full retirement age.

BUT if you are contemplating a divorce and are near the ten-year mark, you might want to consider holding out a bit longer!

Check ssa.gov for all the details and to see if you are qualified.