Question: I was married for 22 years, then divorced. One of my daughters became disabled six years ago. I quit work at age 62 and filed for Social Security, as she needs full-time care.
I did not have the information regarding ex-spouses, so I filed under my own. This year, at age 66, I called and was told I could not collect ex-spousal benefits, which would be higher, because I collected under my own too early. Do I have any recourse?
Answer: When you filed for your own benefit you were thrown into what I call “excess benefit hell,” where you can only collect an excess auxiliary benefit, not a full one. In your case, it sounds like your excess divorced spousal benefit is zero. This would be the case if your full retirement benefit exceeds half of your ex’s full retirement benefit. This said, if you ex dies, you should file for a divorced widow’s benefit. It may be that the divorced widow’s benefit exceeds your own retirement benefit, in which case your monthly payment will go up.
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