How do spousal Social Security benefits work?

To qualify, you generally must be married at least one year and be 62 or older, or be caring for the worker's child who is 15 or younger or has a disability. The worker must be entitled to retirement or disability benefits. An ex-spouse married at least 10 years may also qualify.

The maximum is 50% of the worker's benefit at full retirement age. Claimed at 62 with a full retirement age of 67, it is 32.5%. The spouse benefit does not grow past 50% if the spouse waits longer, and the worker's delayed retirement credits do not raise it while both are alive.

You do not get both checks added together. SSA pays your own retirement benefit first. If half the worker's benefit is larger, you receive a combination that equals the higher amount. If you were born on or after January 2, 1954 and are eligible for both, applying for one counts as applying for both.

Example: the worker's full benefit is $2,400, so the spouse maximum is $1,200. If the spouse's own benefit at full retirement age is $700, SSA pays the $700 plus $500 from the spouse benefit, for $1,200. If the spouse's own benefit is $1,300, no spouse top-up is paid.

A family maximum caps the total paid to a spouse and children on one record, though payments to an ex-spouse do not count toward it. The bigger number for many couples is not the spouse benefit at all but the survivor benefit, which can be up to 100% of the worker's check.