At this point in my client presentations a lot of light bulbs have gone off and people have a sparkle in their eye .
Garnishing the past
Regardless of the gender of your client , if your client is owed thousands of dollars and you are able to help her or him collect on this money , you will be a hero ! However , Social Security can only be garnished as long as the recipient is alive . If your dead-beat dad dies , there is no way to collect this debt . Your client ’ s best plan of action is to locate her marriage license and divorce decree . This can take some time as many people have destroyed or lost the originals . Social Security requires a certified copy from the original issuing authority , usually called something like “ The Department of Vital Statistics ” or something similar . To get a marriage license it will have a slight fee and take a month or two , so start early . Your attorney should have a copy of your divorce , or it is free public records if you go to the courthouse where you were divorced . For people who have moved a lot , this can be a long process of trial and error , so please start months before your ex-spouse turns 62 .
Social Security
Will your former spouse begin drawing Social Security at age 62 ? That is the earliest age that they can choose to draw unless they are disabled ( in which case you can garnish them at any age ). Statistically , about 32 % of Americans do begin Social Security at age 62 , another 30 % wait until their full retirement age ( between 66 – 67 ). Hopefully your ex wants to retire at 62 and open the door on your garnishment .
Since it is unlikely that you two are on friendly terms and they ’ ll share this information with you , the only way you will know is if the SSA tells you . In order for them to share this information with you , you first must provide them with the documentation that shows you are eligible to receive the information . You may want to draw spousal benefits off your former spouse and can do that once the former spouse reaches age 62 , even if they aren ’ t drawing benefits . But you cannot garnish the former spouse for back child support until they start actually drawing their benefits .
Deceased former spouses
If the former spouse is in poor health , keep in mind that you cannot collect against him if he dies . You may be eligible to draw Survivor ’ s Benefits if you are at least 60 years old , not earning over the earned income limit and haven ’ t remarried before age 60 ( or if you did , you are currently single .) You could draw your own benefit against your deceased former spouse , but Social Security no longer can garnish his account .
Time is money
The SSA employees worked from home for two years during COVID which has caused a big backlog across the nation . You want to have your paperwork in hand — which can take a few months to locate — and book a face to face appointment with your local Social Security office . Keep in mind that it takes about two months to get a face to face appointment ( this does vary by area ) and then it will take Social Security about 2 – 3 months to start the garnishment . In other words , start early .
Be the hero
At this point in my client presentations a lot of light bulbs have gone off and people have a sparkle in their eye . “ You mean that I can collect on him even though we were divorced 38 years ago , I remarried and he has never seen his children ?” Yes .
Revisiting your client ’ s past decisions could be the best therapy for them and their retirement . www . nailba . org 51