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What a Divorced Woman Needs to Know About Social Security

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What a Divorced Woman Needs to Know About Social Security
Tom Margenau discusses details of social security benefits for divorced women. pikselstock/Shutterstock
Tom Margenau
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My wife and I are celebrating our 49th wedding anniversary this week. (Although at our age, “celebrating” means maybe an extra scoop of ice cream on our next trip to Dairy Queen!)

I know we are fortunate to be reaching almost five decades of wedded bliss because I get a lot of questions from divorced women who want to know what kind of benefits they might be due on an ex-husband’s Social Security record. So I thought I'd use today’s column to address the issues faced by divorced couples—primarily divorced women.

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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