Alimony and Social Security are not intermingled, and someone’s payment of alimony does not determine positively or negatively one’s ability to collect Social Security benefits. A spouse who is ordered to pay alimony to their former spouse at the conclusion of a divorce, will still be able to receive 100% of the social security benefits allocated to them based on their former employment history, at the time they elect to collect. Additionally, the supplementation of a former spouse’s income, by Social Security benefits, is one triggering event for the possible termination of alimony payments.
