Perhaps surprising to most people, California boasts among the lowest divorce rates in the nation, ranking seventh behind Illinois, New York, Minnesota, Alaska, New Jersey and Vermont.

Of course, that doesn’t mean Californians are immune from marital discord, discontent, or total breakdown. In fact, the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey shows that divorce rates are trending upward. Also eyebrow-raising? Nowhere is that truer than among those couples who are 50 years old and older. It’s so common now among that demographic that there’s even a term for it — “gray divorce,” which according to The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, accounts for 36 percent of all divorces in the United States.

If you or someone you know is age 50 or over, with a divorce on the horizon, or in progress, or that recently occurred, here’s what we want you to know about divorce and Social Security.

Divorce and Social Security

If you are divorced, it might benefit you financially to collect Social Security retirement or disability benefits based on your ex’s earnings instead of your own. For you to qualify, all of the following six conditions must be met:

• You’re 62 years or older.
• You were married to your ex-spouse for at least 10 years.
• You have been divorced from this ex-spouse for at least two years. (This condition applies only if you are claiming benefits before your ex-spouse has claimed benefits.)
• You aren’t currently married. (If you marry someone else, you cannot claim benefits based on your ex-spouse’s work record unless the new marriage ends in divorce, death, or annulment.)
• Your ex-spouse is currently entitled to receive Social Security retirement or disability benefits.
• Your benefit amount, based on your own earnings record, is not equal to or greater than half of your ex-spouse’s Social Security benefit.

After a divorce, you have a choice: Continue reading… Continue reading… Continue reading…