Divorce & Marriage Issues

Social Security benefit records do not have the ability to name specific beneficiaries. The Social Security Act specifies which family members can receive benefits on your record when you retire, die or become disabled. The social security administration cannot pay benefits to people who do not meet the requirements of the law, nor can they refuse to pay benefits to people who do meet those requirements. This is true even if you ask the social security administration not to. Any payments made to your former spouse based on your record will not affect the amounts that can be paid to a subsequent spouse or your children.