Breaking Down the Social Security Benefit Basics for Married Couples

When Social Security was created many moons ago, a typical household consisted of one working and one nonworking spouse. To compensate for that, according to an article by Forbes, special benefits were created for married couples. This same benefit now also applies to same-sex marriages.

Basically, the Social Security spousal benefits work like this: when the working spouse claims Social Security benefits, the nonworking spouse can apply for an additional spousal benefit that could be up to half of the benefit of the working spouse. As the article explains, this special spousal benefit continues for the lifetime of the spouse who is receiving it. However, if the working spouse dies first, then the spousal benefit stops and the surviving spouse’s benefit increases to the amount that the deceased, working spouse received.

Since there are many dual-income marriages these days, it’s important to understand how that impacts Social Security benefits. If both spouses work and pay into Social Security and qualify for their own earned benefit, then upon retirement each spouse will receive whichever benefit is greater — either the one they earned through working or the special spousal benefit.

The Seniors Trust is devoted to improving Social Security for older Americans. We want Congress to enact the Social Security Expansion Act. It will increase benefits, create a strong and long-lasting trust fund, and establish a fair Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA). You can show your support by signing our petition to Congress.