Medicare After Divorce or a Spouse's Death: Using Their Record

You can use an ex-spouse's work record for Part A with no premium if your marriage lasted at least 10 years and you are now unmarried. A widow or widower can use a late spouse's record after at least 9 months of marriage. In both cases, the spouse needs 40 work credits.

Key takeaways

• A divorced person needs a marriage of 10 years or more and must be unmarried now.
• A widow or widower needs a marriage of at least 9 months before the spouse died.
• The ex-spouse or late spouse must have 40 work credits, about 10 years of work.
• Using an ex-spouse's record does not lower their benefits, and they are not told.
• Losing a spouse's job-based health plan can open a special window to sign up for Part B.

Whose work record can you use?

Most people get Part A with no monthly premium because of work. You need 40 work credits (units Social Security gives you for working and paying Medicare taxes). If you do not have 40 of your own, a spouse's record may count.

The main difference is how long you were married. A divorce needs 10 years of marriage. A death needs only 9 months, in most cases.

What are the rules after divorce?

To use an ex-spouse's record, your marriage must have lasted 10 years or more. You must be unmarried now. Your ex-spouse must be at least 62 and have 40 work credits.

Your ex-spouse does not need to be retired. They also do not need to have applied for their own benefits.

If you remarried, you usually cannot use your first ex-spouse's record. If that later marriage also ended, the first record may count again. If you had two marriages that each lasted 10 years, you can use either record.

What are the rules for widows and widowers?

To use a late spouse's record, you must have been married at least 9 months before your spouse died. Your spouse must have had 40 work credits.

You must be unmarried. There is one exception: if you remarried at 60 or later, you can still use your late spouse's record.

If you were divorced from a spouse who later died, the divorce rules apply. Your marriage must have lasted 10 years or more.

Will your ex-spouse find out?

No. Social Security does not tell your ex-spouse that you are using their record. You do not need their permission.

Using the record does not lower your ex-spouse's benefits. It also does not affect the benefits of their current spouse. Each person's Medicare stands on its own.

The same is true for a late spouse's record. Using it for Medicare does not reduce any survivor benefits that others, such as children, get from that record.

What if you were on a spouse's job plan?

Some people delay Part B because they have health coverage through a working spouse's job. A divorce or a death can end that coverage. When it ends, you get a special enrollment period (a sign-up window outside the usual ones).

This window lasts 8 months. It starts the month after the job ends or the coverage ends, whichever comes first. If you sign up during it, there is no Part B late penalty.

COBRA (a law that lets you keep a former job plan for a while, at your own cost) does not count as job-based coverage for this rule. The 8 months still start when the spouse's job or the coverage based on it ends. For how job plans and Medicare fit together, see Still Working at 65?

If you miss the window, the Part B penalty adds 10% for each full 12-month period without Part B. With the 2026 standard Part B premium of $202.90, one 10% penalty is about $20.30 a month in 2026. You pay it for as long as you have Part B.

What papers do you need to apply?

You apply for Medicare through Social Security, online at ssa.gov, by phone or at a local office. When you apply, tell Social Security about every marriage, even short ones.

Have these papers ready:

• Your marriage certificate for each marriage you list
• Your divorce decree, if you are divorced
• Your spouse's death certificate, if you are widowed
• Your ex-spouse's or late spouse's full name, date of birth and Social Security number, if you know it

If you do not know the Social Security number, give the other details. Social Security can find the record with a name, date of birth and marriage dates.

When should you sign up?

Most people sign up during the Initial Enrollment Period. It runs 7 months: the 3 months before, the month of, and the 3 months after your 65th birthday month.

If you miss it and have no job-based coverage, the General Enrollment Period runs January 1 to March 31. Coverage starts the month after you sign up. For every window, see Medicare enrollment periods.

If you already get Social Security benefits on a spouse's record before 65, you are signed up for Part A and Part B on your own. Your Medicare card comes in the mail before your birthday month. You can keep Part B or follow the card's steps to turn it down.

Does a spouse's record change your costs?

A spouse's record changes one cost: the Part A premium. With it, you pay no monthly Part A premium. Without it, and with fewer than 40 credits of your own, you would pay a monthly premium for Part A.

Other costs stay the same for everyone. In 2026, the Part A hospital deductible is $1,736 per benefit period. The 2026 standard Part B premium is $202.90 a month, and the Part B deductible is $283. All are set each year.

If a divorce or death ends a job-based plan that helped pay your Medicare costs, you may also have the right to buy certain Medigap policies. Learn how insurers can use your health history at other times in Medical Underwriting for Medigap.

Have questions? Call 1-877-443-3251 to talk it through with a licensed insurance agent. You never pay the agent; the plans they represent do, and the decision stays yours.

We do not offer every plan available in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE to get information on all of your options. Medicare has neither reviewed nor endorsed this information.