Here's What You Need to Remember: “As a divorced spouse, you are eligible to collect on your earnings or your husband’s — whichever is the higher amount — as long as you meet certain criteria,” the NJ.com columnist answered. Another expert quoted said that the most the letter writer would be able to collect would be “ 50% of his Full Retirement Amount (FRA) as long as he waited until at least that age to collect.”

Social Security is a program that is waiting for the majority of Americans once they retire, and it is often the case that a pair of spouses will both be collecting the benefit after they retire. The spouse of a Social Security beneficiary can receive some benefits as well.

“When a worker files for retirement benefits, the worker's spouse may be eligible for a benefit based on the worker's earnings. Another requirement is that the spouse must be at least age 62 or have a qualifying child in her/his care. By a qualifying child, we mean a child who is under age 16 or who receives Social Security disability benefits,” the Social Security website says.

The spousal benefit can be as much as half of the worker's "primary insurance amount," depending on the spouse's age at retirement. If the spouse begins receiving benefits before ‘normal (or full) retirement age,’ the spouse will receive a reduced benefit. However, if a spouse is caring for a qualifying child, the spousal benefit is not reduced,” the site added.

The site also includes a calculator for future beneficiaries to enter their date of birth, and also the date when they would like to begin receiving benefits.

Of course, there are other specific situations with different answers.

Someone wrote in to NJ.com's NJ Money Help column with a question about their benefits.

“I was married and we got a divorce, but we both got remarried. Am I entitled to any Social Security of my first husband’s benefit after his death?,” the question goes. It’s not clear if the first husband already died, or if the question is a hypothetical, about what will happen once the husband dies in the future.

“As a divorced spouse, you are eligible to collect on your earnings or your husband’s — whichever is the higher amount — as long as you meet certain criteria,” the NJ.com columnist answered. Another expert quoted said that the most the letter writer would be able to collect would be “ 50% of his Full Retirement Amount (FRA) as long as he waited until at least that age to collect.”

“Remember that if you begin collecting before you reach your FRA, then your benefit will permanently be reduced,” that expert, Jody D’Agostini, a certified financial planner with Equitable Advisors/The Falcon Financial Group in Morristown, told NJ.com. “If your ex-spouse had not filed, and his benefit is higher, you could begin to claim on your benefit as early as age 62, then switch to his higher benefit when he files. Social Security will only pay the higher of the two.”

Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver. This article first appeared earlier this year.

Image: Reuters.