Does Getting Married or Remarrying Affect Social Security?
Getting married doesn’t change a Social Security retirement or disability benefit on your own record. It can change benefits you get on someone else’s record or based on need: a divorced spouse benefit generally stops, a survivor benefit continues only if you remarry at 60 or later (50 or later with a disability), most child’s benefits end, and SSI is refigured with your spouse’s income and savings. Marriage also creates new rights, such as a spousal benefit after one year.
What marriage does to each type of benefit
| Benefit you get | If you marry |
|---|---|
| Your own retirement or SSDI | No change |
| Divorced spouse benefit on an ex’s record | Stops, with a few exceptions |
| Widow’s or widower’s benefit, you’re 60 or older | Continues |
| Widow’s or widower’s benefit, you’re 50 to 59 and disabled | Continues |
| Widow’s or widower’s benefit, you’re under 60 otherwise | Stops while the new marriage lasts |
| Child’s benefit, including disabled adult child | Usually ends |
| SSI | Recalculated using your spouse’s income and resources |
Swipe sideways to see the full table →
Report a marriage to Social Security right away at 1-800-772-1213. Benefits paid after the marriage that you weren’t due become an overpayment.
Remarrying as a widow or widower
Under Social Security’s remarriage rules, your age when you remarry decides what happens to a survivor benefit:
- At 60 or later, your survivor benefit continues. Once you’ve been married a year, you can also qualify for a spousal benefit on your new spouse’s record, and you get whichever is higher, not both.
- From 50 to 59, it continues only if you were disabled when you remarried.
- Before 60 otherwise, it stops. If the later marriage ends by divorce, annulment or death, you can apply again on your late spouse’s record, starting with the month the later marriage ended.
A 77-year-old widow who remarries keeps her survivor benefit. Her own retirement benefit doesn’t change either.
Remarrying when you get a divorced spouse benefit
A divorced spouse benefit requires you to be unmarried, so it generally stops when you remarry. The exception is marrying someone who gets Social Security as a spouse, widow or widower, parent or disabled adult child; then the benefit on your ex’s record continues. If your new marriage ends, you’re treated as unmarried from the month the divorce or annulment is final, and you can claim on your ex’s record again if you still qualify.
Your ex-spouse remarrying doesn’t affect your benefit. The rule looks only at your marital status, and benefits to an ex-spouse don’t reduce what the worker’s new spouse can get.
Getting married when you get SSI
SSI counts a spouse’s income and savings. If you both get SSI, you’re paid the couple rate, $1,491 a month in 2026 and $1,544 in 2027, instead of $994 each ($1,988 together). The resource limit becomes $3,000 for the couple instead of $2,000 each. If your spouse doesn’t get SSI, part of their income is counted as yours, which can lower or end your payment.
Living together without marrying isn’t always different. For SSI, Social Security can treat you as married if you share a household and present yourselves to others as husband and wife, for example by using the same last name or calling each other spouses.
Child’s and disabled adult child benefits
A child’s benefit on a parent’s record usually ends when the child marries. A disabled adult child’s benefit usually ends too, but it continues in some cases, such as marriage to another person receiving disabled adult child benefits. Children of a new spouse can sometimes qualify as stepchildren on a worker’s record once the worker gets retirement or disability benefits.
What marriage can add
- A spousal benefit of up to 50% of your spouse’s full benefit, after you’ve been married at least a year (sooner if you’re the parent of your spouse’s child).
- A survivor benefit if your spouse dies, generally after nine months of marriage.
- Premium-free Medicare Part A through your spouse’s work record after a year of marriage, if you don’t have enough work of your own.
- A divorced spouse benefit later, if the marriage lasts 10 years.
Taxes after marriage
Marriage can make more of your benefits taxable. On a joint return, benefits start being taxable when half your combined benefits plus your other income passes $32,000, compared with $25,000 for each of you if you were single, $50,000 together. A married couple who lives together and files separately has no threshold at all, so up to 85% of their benefits can be taxable from the first dollar.