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Spousal Benefits: What You Can and Cannot Do

Spousal Benefits: What You Can and Cannot Do
A Social Security Administration logo in Flushing, N.Y., on Feb. 10, 2021. Chung I Ho/The Epoch Times
Tom Margenau
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Before I even start, I’m going to address the gender issue. This column is about benefits available to spouses. However, I don’t want to spend the whole column trying to be gender-neutral and using awkwardly combined pronouns like “he/she” or “him/her,” or jumbled phrases like “benefits for husbands and/or wives.”

Because statistics show that 90 percent of the people who get spousal benefits are women, I’m going to keep things simple and address this column to women. Or more specifically, to wives who are wondering what benefits they might be due on a husband’s Social Security record.

Tom Margenau
Tom Margenau
Author
Tom Margenau worked for 32 years in a variety of positions for the Social Security Administration before retiring in 2005. He has served as the director of SSA’s public information office, the chief editor of more than 100 SSA publications, a deputy press officer and spokesman, and a speechwriter for the commissioner of Social Security. For 12 years, he also wrote Social Security columns for local newspapers, and recently published the book “Social Security: Simple and Smart.” If you have a Social Security question, contact him at [email protected]
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