While a number of conditions must be met, a divorced woman is able to collect Social Security benefits through her ex-husband. The marriage must have lasted at least 10 years and the applicant cannot currently be married. The minimum age to collect benefits is 62, and the ex-husband must be entitled to receive Social Security retirement or disability benefits.

How Much Are Ex-Wives Entitled to Receive?

In general, ex-wives are entitled to one-half of their ex-husbands' retirement benefits – unless the spouse is dead, in which case the ex-wife receives his full retirement benefit. If a woman remarries and her second spouse dies, she qualifies to claim benefits from either her first husband or second husband as long as each marriage lasted at least 10 years. In this case, the benefit received is the highest amount of the two. Some women relinquish their rights to Social Security on their ex-husbands' records by signing divorce decrees. But if a marriage lasted at least 10 years, those clauses are meaningless and are never enforced.

How Do You Apply for an Ex-Husband’s Benefits

Apply for benefits online by going to SSA.gov, or find the local office and make an appointment. To apply for benefits on an ex-husband’s work record, you need to know his Social Security number or his date and place of birth and his parents’ names. To protect the privacy of all parties involved, the ex-husband is not notified when an ex-wife applies for Social Security benefits on his record.