Called Social Security and I think I am right
The orginal question concerned what is sometimes referred to as the "free spousal benefit."
I called Social Security and confirmed what I thought. Forunately my passing is not a factor in any of this.
You can read about it here.
http://www.socialsecuritychoices.com...reespousal.php
or here
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/retire...pouse.htm#a0=1
When my spouse reaches full retirement age she can elect to take either a spousal benefit which is 50% of my benefit or her benefit.
If she delays in taking her benefit then she earns delayed retirement benefits and so her benefits grows by 8 % a year. She can then later switch to her benefit and start getting a larger benefit.
As before, consult with Social Security and with your CPA before making a decision.
SoCal
Correction and clarification
Learn something every day. Apparently I was misinformed about the "death" aspect.
However, this excerpt from the above cite bears some note:
If you are under full retirement age when you take a spousal benefit, you cannot abstain from taking a benefit on your own record, and thus, you will be stuck with a permanently lower benefit as a result of taking it prior to your full retirement age. In other words, you are "deemed" to have taken your own retirement benefit immediately upon taking the spousal benefit. However, if you wait until full retirement age to claim your spousal benefit, not only will you receive a full spousal benefit equal to 50% of the primary beneficiary's retirement benefit, but you can also switch over to your own retirement benefit at a later age. The advantage of taking "free spousal" benefits is that you are receiving the spousal benefit while your own retirement benefit grows at 8 percent a year.
Another thing, which may or may not be relevant to the discussion here, is that if have not yet attained full-retirement age and you have wage/self-employment income greater than $15,120 then one dollar in benefits will be withheld for every two dollars in earnings above that limit. That "penalty" alone can be a significant consideration factor for a person under full retirement age who is still employed.
Slight disclaimer: There is a very convoluted set of rules in play for earnings limits for the one year the person attains full retirement age.
Details? See http://www.ssa.gov/pressoffice/facts...afacts2013.htm
k