The maximum spousal benefit she could draw is available once she reaches her FRA in February. At that time, she could receive half of his primary insurance amount (PIA). His PIA is his retirement benefit at his FRA.
The relative size of their PIAs is then the issue.
If half his PIA is substantially larger than her own retirement benefit, she could start collecting that. Spousal benefits do not earn delayed credits, so waiting to claim them does not increase her take.
If her retirement benefit is close to half his PIA, she could restrict her application to spousal benefits only. She’d get half his PIA, but her personal retirement benefit would earn delayed credits of 8 percent per year. So, if her PIA is at least 34 percent of his PIA (68 percent of half his PIA), she can switch to her own benefit no later than age 70 and get an increased check at that time.
So far, claiming looks a lot like it would if they were still married. The restricted application technique is not available before FRA, and if she files before her FRA, she is first deemed to have started her retirement early and then gets any spousal addition that may be available.
A major difference between being married and not though is that he does not have to file for her to get a spousal benefit. If they were married, she couldn’t do anything other than claim her own benefit unless he filed or filed and suspended his benefit.
In fact, for benefits off an ex-spouse’s record, no one has to coordinate or otherwise get anyone to do anything. Neither party is notified of what the other does or doesn’t do. They need not communicate in any way.
That said, if they’ve been out of touch, you may wish to have your client check-in on the ex-spouse. Why? Well, I don’t wish ill on anyone, but if he has kicked the bucket, she has other options and can get more money. In the case of the deceased ex-spouse, the basic benefit becomes the deceased’s PIA, not half the PIA. I’ll leave the dead ex jokes to others and just spend some time on the options available to surviving ex-spouses.
While spousal benefits off a living spouse’s or ex-spouse’s record cannot begin earlier than age 62, benefits for a surviving spouse or ex-spouse can begin at earlier ages.
Survivor benefits are available immediately regardless of age and duration of the marriage if the survivor is caring for a child of the survivor and the deceased worker, that is under age 16 (or disabled), if that child receives benefits off the worker’s record. The basic benefit amount for this is 75 percent of the deceased’s PIA and is payable until the child reaches age 16 or is no longer disabled.