The same rules that apply to divorced and financially dependent wives and widows also apply to divorced and financially dependent husbands and widowers.(Prostock-Studio / Getty Images) Over the 27 ...

She wasn’t due anything extra at the time because a divorced wife’s rate is way less than a divorced widow’s rate. So let this be a lesson to other readers out there. If you had a prior marriage, even ...

Q: I understand paying benefits to widows. But I don’t understand paying benefits to divorcees. A woman who is divorced is not a widow. She is an ex-wife. So why does she have a claim to her ...

The U.S. Social Security system includes special provisions that allow individuals to claim benefits based on their spouse’s earnings record—even if the spouse is deceased or they are divorced.

Over the 27 years I've been writing this column, I have probably written a hundred columns directed at divorced women. But after answering emails from men who had questions about benefits for ...