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My grandmother who is 78 was dumped by her cheating husband a few years ago while he went and had an affair with an illegal woman 40 years his junior. He is retired from the Navy. Is my grandmother entitled to some of his retirement benefits? He was already retired when they divorced.
Thanks.
My grandmother who is 78 was dumped by her cheating husband a few years ago while he went and had an affair with an illegal woman 40 years his junior. He is retired from the Navy. Is my grandmother entitled to some of his retirement benefits? He was already retired when they divorced.
Thanks.
I bet she is. Does her county have a legal assistance office? If so, she should go there and see what can be done.
Keep in mind that SS payments aren't all that generous. The amount of earnings you pay FICA on is capped each year and the amount you can get is also capped.
The divorced spouse might actually get more on SSI which is basically welfare for people without enough work credits to qualify for SS.
The pension is usually split by the divorce decree and some pension plans have rules about how it gets divided. It also involves the 401K and other retirement savings that can't practically be split at the time of the divorce.
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My pension is from my employer, not SS.
My Dw gets 50% of my pension if we divorce.
Right not we have the option, rather she has the option, of a portion of my paycheck going into a survivor benefit plan. 5%, 10%, 20%, however much she wants from my paycheck to pay into this SBP, and after I die she would than receive a payment as my widow.
God it feels good to be single and unmarried. Beautiful women all the time, new faces, no liabilities accruing, no one living in your home. Also women are more subservient to your demands when they want something from you. What more could a man ask for?
Any many who gets married in this day and age is a fool.
As unappealing as you sound, I have to agree with you. It really makes no sense at all to get married these days. If I were a single woman, I would be more than happy to string men along for fancy dinners and jewelry.
As folks have said, this was put into place to protect a spouse that spends years helping to build their spouse's career from having to spend their twilight years living below the poverty level because of someone's mid life crisis.
YLisa while I agree with your OP sskkc brings another very good point to the table quoted above. Only problem is today's SS benefits will keep you in the poverty level with the way our economy is if you have no other income.
Aside from the amount the ex-spouse can receive you are trying to say it is wrong for them to receive anything correct?
As unappealing as you sound, I have to agree with you. It really makes no sense at all to get married these days. If I were a single woman, I would be more than happy to string men along for fancy dinners and jewelry.
That is what a divorce settlement is for. You get compensated then not 20, 30, or 40 years later. And you should also be compensated by your Ex not "the American People".
The amount of Social Security we receive is based on how much tax we paid into SS while working. Many couples find it better for one spouse to stay home and raise children to save child-care expenses, among other reasons.
So let's say you've raised the kids, kept the home nice, and supported your successful spouse - maybe waited tables while he went to business school. Now he's dead and you find out he lost the nest-egg like so many other investors recently have. What are you going to do with kids, no skills, too old for most work, and no money of your own contributed to Social Security?
There are greater economic reasons behind such a system. The "American People" would be much worse off with so many helpless families running around with no money to spend.
We are not so much a wellfare state - we are a consumption economy, which means no money for them - no job for you.
From my perspective, as a stay at home mother, my husband's income supports the household. His money is OUR money. We chose for me to stay home to benefit our family, and each member of the family gets the benefit of my being here not working and collecting a paycheck.
If we got divorced, I would definitely take half his pension. It was OUR money that went in there. I would also feel entitled to half his SS if we divorced and I didn't remarry or work again. However me not working again would probably not be a possibility, I would probably work again and then collect my own SS from my own work. I am not sure, but I am probably eligible for my own SS now because I used to work before staying home with the kids, if not I am probably only a couple years short)
In any case, you are right about there being something wrong w/those percentages and the math involved..
If an ex spouse is collecting 50%, the spouse should also collect 50%, not 100%. And the current spouse getting 50% as well? That doesn't make any sense.
The total paid out should not add up to more than 100% in any case.
W/DH's info, he pays $6,000 per year to SS. Say he does this for 30 years, that would be $180,000. Considering a 3% interest rate, that brings his contribution to 300,000. He (or I) would collect that money (apparently $1400 per month) after 18 years at a rate of $1400 per month (even less if that amount goes up, I don't know what the maximum amount you can collect from SS).
Question: if the spouse never works, and the couple doesn't get divorced, do they BOTH collect a check? Or does the spouse only get a check if the working spouse dies?
If what you say is true that the individual, an ex spouse, and a spouse can all be collecting off SS, then using my DH as an example, me, him, and his new wife would collect all his money w/in 10 years. and the chances of me, him and his new wife living only 10 years past 62 is slim. So if we all live longer we would then be a drain on SS. And , hell this is assuming he works and contributes the whole 30 years! If he dies before then (like if I knocked him off for trading me in for a new model, lol, just kidding) he won't even finish putting in the 180K to start with!!!
No wonder SS is failing. Not to mention SSI which allows people who never put into the system to get payments.
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Welcome to City-Data.com forum! Make sure to register - it's free and very quick! You have to register before you can post and participate in our discussions with 700,000 other registered members. User profiles and some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your free account you will be able to customize many options, you will have the full access to over 15,000 posts/day about local topics and you will see fewer ads. 
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