Ask the Expert: A disability benefit query

There is no minimum age to collect a Social Security disability benefit based on your own record. But you must be at least 62 to claim a Social Security retirement benefit based on your ex-spouse's record. (There is no spousal disability benefit.) Unfortunately, if you take a spousal benefit at 62, you can't switch to your own benefit when you turn 70. For that option, you must delay taking a spousal benefit until you're 66.

You can collect Social Security on a former spouse's work record only if: a) you're at least 62; b) your marriage lasted at least 10 years; c) your ex is eligible to collect Social Security even if he isn't yet doing so; d) you're not entitled to a higher benefit based on your own record; and e) you're currently unmarried. (If you meet the first four requirements, you can qualify even if you remarried, provided you remarried when you were older than 60, or older than 50 and disabled.)

If your ex is dead, you can claim a widow's benefit at 60, or at 50 if you're disabled, provided your marriage lasted at least 10 years and you're not entitled to a higher benefit on your own record. If your widow's benefit is $2,000 a month, for example, but your own benefit is $2,200, you'll get your own because it's larger.