my condolances on your loss. when my mom died they did deposit her last check then took it back out a few days later!!! then put it back again after my dad called them. its so confusing i think even the ssa people dont know there own rules sometimes

I'm sorry for your family's loss. I work in benefits administration and can clarify the confusion here. Your father-in-law's February payment (received in March) should absolutely be payable since he lived through the entire month of February. The key rule is that beneficiaries must be alive for the complete calendar month to receive benefits for that month. However, Social Security may initially freeze or recall the payment when they process the death report, even if it's legitimately owed. This is a protective measure while they verify details. Your mother-in-law should specifically mention this February payment during her survivor benefits appointment and ask them to verify it wasn't improperly withheld. One important note: if the payment does get recalled initially, don't panic. She can file Form SSA-1724 to claim any benefits properly due to the estate. The SSA representative should be able to help with this during her appointment. Also make sure she asks about the $255 lump-sum death payment - it's a small benefit but every bit helps during this difficult time.

A critical factor here is whether your son continued to be eligible for benefits as a student after turning 18. Based on your timeline, it sounds like he did qualify under the "full-time student" provisions that allow benefits to continue until graduation or age 19 (whichever comes first). If the sole reason for the overpayment is his mother's medical improvement, and not any issue with his student status, then your waiver argument should focus heavily on the fact that he had no way of knowing about his mother's changed medical status - especially given that she hasn't been involved in his life. The technical term for what you want to emphasize is that he was "without fault" in causing the overpayment. The SSA's own policy states that individuals are without fault when: "The overpaid individual relied on information from SSA that turned out to be incorrect." Since SSA continued sending the payments, this should apply to your son's situation.

I'm a social worker who helps families navigate SSA issues, and I want to emphasize something important that hasn't been fully addressed yet - the timing of when your son turned 18 versus when the overpayment period began. Since your son was still a minor in April 2023 when the overpayment allegedly started, there's a strong argument that he cannot be held responsible for payments made while he was under 18. Minors have legal protections specifically because they cannot be expected to understand complex benefit rules or monitor their parents' medical status. I'd recommend adding this to your waiver documentation: highlight that he was 17 years old when the overpayment began and had no legal capacity to understand or act on information about his mother's disability status even if he had somehow received it. Also, make sure to document his current financial situation thoroughly - full-time student status, part-time income, basic living expenses. SSA considers educational expenses as legitimate financial hardship factors. Include documentation of tuition, books, transportation, and any other school-related costs. The fact that you're helping with some expenses actually strengthens the hardship argument rather than weakening it - it shows his income alone isn't sufficient to cover basic needs, let alone an $8,000+ debt.

Im sorry but i think you need to just apply now!!! My neighbor was in similar situation and SSA told her she needed to apply within 6 months of death or she would loose some backpay. I dont know if thats still true but better safe than sorry!! Even though you cant get payments until 60 you should apply now to protect your filing date!!

I'm so sorry for your loss, Kendrick. Losing an ex-spouse, especially at such a young age, can be emotionally complicated even years after divorce. Based on what others have shared, it sounds like contacting the Federal Benefits Unit in London (which serves Portugal) might be your best bet rather than trying to call the main SSA line. Email might work better for you given the time zone differences. One thing I wanted to add that I haven't seen mentioned - since you only have 5 years of US work credits, you definitely want to look into the US-Portugal totalization agreement that someone briefly mentioned. This could potentially help you qualify for some benefits on your own record by combining your US and Portuguese work history. It might not be much, but every bit helps, especially if you're planning to stay in Portugal long-term. Also, even though you can't claim survivor benefits until 60, it might be worth starting to organize your paperwork now. Get certified copies of your marriage certificate, divorce decree, and his death certificate while they're still relatively easy to obtain. Having everything ready will make the process smoother when the time comes. The Federal Benefits Unit should be able to give you a better idea of what documentation you'll need and how the process works for US expats in Portugal.

My mother-in-law went through this whole mess last year and finally just gave up trying to understand it. She's a retired Texas teacher and just accepted the lower amount rather than fighting the system. These formulas are designed to be so complicated that normal people just give up. Meanwhile Congress keeps "promising" to fix it but never does. Been going on for decades.

I'm also a retired educator dealing with WEP - taught high school math in Virginia for 32 years before retiring in 2022. What helped me was creating a detailed timeline of ALL my work history, including exact dates and earnings from every job where I paid into Social Security. I found old W-2s, tax returns, and even contacted previous employers for records. When I finally got through to SSA with this documentation, they were able to verify I actually had 25 years of "substantial earnings" which reduced my WEP penalty significantly. The key is being persistent and organized. Also, don't rely on just phone calls - the online "my Social Security" account shows your complete earnings record which you can review for accuracy. If you find errors in your earnings history, you can request corrections with proper documentation. It's frustrating but worth the effort to ensure you're getting every dollar you've earned!

Have you considered what happens if you take your benefit now but your husband delays until 70? That maximizes his benefit (and potentially your survivor benefit if he passes away before you). For couples with one much higher earner, that's often the optimal strategy - lower earner claims early, higher earner waits as long as possible.

As someone who just went through this decision process myself, I wanted to add a practical perspective. I was in a very similar situation - 62 and needing income while my husband was 57 and still working. One thing that really helped me was creating a spreadsheet comparing different scenarios over 10, 15, and 20 years. I looked at: - Taking my reduced benefit immediately vs waiting - Total lifetime benefits under different longevity assumptions - The impact on our overall retirement cash flow What I found was that the "break-even" point for waiting vs claiming early was around age 78-80 in my case. Since I'm in good health and both my parents lived into their 90s, waiting made more sense for us. However, the cash flow aspect was important too. We ended up using a combination of savings and a small part-time job to bridge the gap until I reached FRA. It wasn't ideal, but the long-term benefit increase was worth it for our situation. One resource that really helped was the Social Security Administration's online benefit calculators. You can run different claiming scenarios to see the actual dollar amounts for your specific situation rather than trying to guess.