One more thing to be aware of: Medicare enrollment. If your husband is already on Medicare, no action is needed. If he's not on Medicare yet but will be 65+ when benefits start, the retirement application will automatically enroll him in Medicare Parts A & B. If he has employer health insurance and wants to delay Part B (to avoid paying the premium while still covered), there will be a section in the application where he can decline Part B. This is important because Part B comes with a monthly premium that's unnecessary if he has good employer coverage. If he declines Part B now while having employer coverage, he'll qualify for a Special Enrollment Period when he eventually retires, avoiding the late enrollment penalty.

make sure u have marriage info!!! they asked my friend for date/place she got married AND divorced from 40 years ago!!! she had to find old papers

I think its great that the GPO is finally going away. My mom lost out on so many benefits because of that unfair rule. She worked for the school system for 35 years and got almost nothing from dads SS when he passed away, even though he worked and paid in his whole life!

That's exactly why this change was needed! So many public servants were effectively penalized twice - once with often lower government pensions compared to private sector, and then again by being denied Social Security benefits their spouses earned. My sister feels like she's been waiting forever for this fix.

one more thing - when u do turn 62 make sure u check if its better to take ur own SS or the ex-spouse benefit. depends on ur work history. if u take it at 62 its reduced no matter what

Thank you all for this valuable information! I'm disappointed I might have missed out on some benefits when my daughter was younger, but at least I understand the rules better now. I'll definitely check on both my own retirement benefit and the ex-spouse benefit when I turn 62 to see which is better. I'm going to try to schedule an appointment with SSA to discuss everything properly. I feel less anxious now that I have more knowledge about how this all works.

u should definitely reapply anyway. my aunt got denied three times for disability but kept trying and finally got approved. sometimes u just get a different person reviewing ur case.

Thank you everyone for your helpful responses. I'm going to make an appointment with my local Social Security office to review my specific situation. I'll also try that Claimyr service to speak with someone by phone before my appointment so I'm better prepared. It sounds like I might still get $0 due to GPO, but at least I'll know for sure and can check if they're calculating everything correctly. I'll update this thread after I speak with them in case it helps others in my situation!

has anyone else noticed that SS office treats you like your stupid when you ask questions??? i swear the lady i talked to about survivors benifits acted like i was wasting her time

One more important point about survivor benefits that hasn't been mentioned yet: If you decide to take your own reduced retirement benefit now and switch to survivor benefits at your FRA, the reduction to your own benefit is permanent. But taking reduced survivor benefits now won't affect your own retirement benefit if you switch to it later. This asymmetry in the rules is why many financial advisors recommend taking the reduced survivor benefit first and then switching to your own retirement benefit at 70 if it would be higher. Also, don't forget that you'll need to provide documentation when you apply: marriage certificate, your wife's death certificate, both your SSNs, and proof of her SSDI status. Having all this ready will make the application process smoother.