My ex-husband, 63, is sick but refuses to retire to spite me out of his Social Security — which is much larger than mine. He even took our marriage and divorce papers. Can I still claim them?

Claiming Social Security spousal benefits on an ex-spouse's work record

Knowing the actual rules for claiming spousal benefits is critical. You are eligible for benefits even if you are divorced, as long as your marriage lasted for at least 10 years and you have not remarried.

Now, if you were still married, you would not be able to claim your spousal benefits until your spouse claimed their retirement benefits.

However, since you are divorced, that's not the case. As long as your divorce was finalized at least two years ago, your ex's decisions about when to claim their benefits don't impact your eligibility. This means your former spouse can try to stop you by continuing to work, but it will do no good.

Unfortunately, you must provide Social Security with documentation to claim these benefits after your divorce, including your marriage certificate and final divorce decree. Your ex-spouse can't stop you from getting a hold of these documents, though, even if they took them from you to prevent your access to benefits.

You should be able to get a copy of your divorce papers by contacting the court clerk in the county or city where you got divorced. There will probably be a small fee, and you'll need to provide some basic personal information, but getting your copy should not be difficult.

You can also get a copy of your marriage certificate by contacting the vital records office in the state where you got married. Again, there may be a small fee, but it is worth it to access spousal benefits.

It can take some time to get these forms back to you, so get started as soon as possible. Once you have all your paperwork, you can apply for your spousal benefits online if you are within three months of age 62 or older or can make an appointment at your local Social Security office.

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How much money are you entitled to receive?

The Social Security benefit you are entitled to will vary depending on how much income your ex earned and your age when you claim your benefits.

You are entitled to 50% of your ex's primary insurance if you claim your spousal benefits at your full retirement age (FRA). That's the amount they would be entitled to receive at their full retirement age, based on a percentage of wages over their 35 highest earning years.

FRA depends on birth year and is:

• 67 if you were born in 1960 or later
• 66 and 10 months if you were born in 1959
• 66 and 8 months if you were born in 1958
• 66 and 6 months if you were born in 1957
• 66 and 4 months if you were born in 1956
• 66 and 2 months if you were born in 1955
• 66 if you were born in 1943 to 1954

Note that you can claim spousal benefits as early as age 62, but this would reduce the amount you get down to just 32.5% of your ex's primary insurance amount. Social Security has an online calculator you can use to estimate the amount of spousal benefits — so you can see how much you're on track for at different ages.

You should also know that, unlike when you get your retirement benefits, there's no added money coming if you wait until after FRA to claim benefits. You can't increase your benefit beyond 50% of your spouse's primary insurance amount, so the latest age you should claim is your FRA.

You are entitled to these benefits by law, as long as you have been married long enough, so get started today on completing your documents.

Don't let your ex's efforts prevent you from receiving the money to which you are entitled.