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Ask the Divorced Guy!
by Dean Hughson
Title: Financial Questions Affecting Women After Divorce
Question:
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I'm 45 years old, separated, thinking about getting a divorce. I have
been married 24 years, and separated the past 2 years. We have 3
children, a married son 20 with a baby on the way, a daughter 18 in
college and a son 16, a sophomore in high school. The two youngest
children live with me.
I went back to college after my children were in school and I have been teaching high school for 6 years now. If I teach until the age of 62, 23 years, my retirement benefit will be only $1100.00 a month.
During this 24-year marriage, we owned our own business. My husband actually did the jobs, and I did the marketing, financing and bookkeeping. Because it was cheaper for us to only pay social security on my husband we did this. We could have opted to pay for both myself and husband, but did not do so because money was tight. I really never thought that I would ever find myself in this position.
I worked previously, and will receive $211.00 a month from social security. (Which by the way, my husband has let the business go to pot, so it is virtually worthless at this time, so no money from that direction.)
I want to know, if we are divorced, am I eligible to draw from any of his social security, as he can get half of my retirement. The $1100.00 is assuming that I get to keep my retirement, if not, it will be substantially less.
I am trying to plan for my retirement, and $1311.00 a month is going to be quite slim, since my house payment is $950.00 a month and will not be paid off then.
Do you know the law on this subject? We live in California if that information is needed.
Answer:
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For questions about social security benefits take a look at
http://www.ssa.gov/
I have found them very helpful in the past. You can probably find the
answer at their FAQ section. If not, send them an email or call them for
additional information.
ASK THE DIVORCED WOMAN Maria Costa advice on going to a financial advisor
is well taken. In fact no one should contemplate a divorce without talking
to an accounant about the issues before the divorce occurs. An excellent
site that talks about divorce financial issues for women is Kathleen
Miller's site at http://www.kathleenmiller.com
Her book, Fair Shair Divorce for Women
is not to be missed.
Dean Hughson, called the Dear Abby of Divorced Dads by the KC Star, is the founder of the DIVORCE HOMEPAGE. He has talked to thousands of people contemplating divorce, going through divorce, or the chaos afterwards and gives referrals and advice. He resides in Nevada, the state with the highest divorce rate in the US.
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