Presented are methods and systems for deghosting seismic trace data. A cost function and one or more applicable constraints are selected and used to generate a time-variant deghosting filter. The time-variant deghosting filter can be recalculated for predetermined time intervals over the span of the associated seismic data. The time-variant deghosting filter is then applied to the seismic trace data to attenuate ghosts within the predetermined time interval. A plurality of seismic trace data can be stacked before generating and applying the time-variant deghosting filter.