Can ex-spouse with WEP get Social Security benefits from 20-year marriage?

Yes, the Government Pension Offset (GPO) will affect your ex-spousal benefits, not WEP. GPO typically reduces your Social Security spousal/survivor benefits by 2/3 of your government pension amount. So if your monthly pension is $3,000, your Social Security ex-spousal benefits would be reduced by $2,000. If your ex-spousal benefit would be less than that reduction amount, you might not receive anything. Also remember, to qualify for ex-spouse benefits: - You must be unmarried currently - Your marriage lasted at least 10 years (yours did at 24 years) - Your ex-spouse is entitled to benefits (sounds like yes) - The benefit you're entitled to on your own work record is less than what you'd receive on your ex's record

I WENT THROUGH THE EXACT SAME THING last year!!! The GPO is absolutely BRUTAL for us government pensioners. My teacher's pension is $2,575 and I got ZERO from my ex's record even though we were married 18 years. They take 2/3 of your pension ($1,500 in your case) right off the top of whatever spousal benefit you'd get. The system is RIGGED against public servants!!! We work our whole lives and then get penalized. My neighbor who never worked a day in her life gets 50% of her husband's benefit but I get nothing because I chose to teach??? Make it make sense!!

To calculate this properly, you need to know what your ex-husband's Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) is. As an ex-spouse, you'd normally be eligible for up to 50% of that amount if you wait until your Full Retirement Age (FRA). So if his PIA is $2,400, your spousal benefit would potentially be $1,200 before GPO reduction. Then you apply the GPO formula: 2/3 of your monthly pension ($2,250 × 2/3 = $1,500) gets subtracted from the spousal benefit. In this example: $1,200 - $1,500 = -$300, which means you'd get nothing. But if his PIA is higher, say $3,600, then your potential benefit would be $1,800. After GPO: $1,800 - $1,500 = $300 monthly benefit. You can get his PIA amount by either asking him to check his Social Security statement online or by making an appointment with SSA (though they might not tell you).

I had to deal with this nightmare last year. You NEED to speak with someone at SSA who understands GPO/WEP because many agents don't fully understand it (got wrong info twice before finding someone knowledgeable). I spent 3 weeks trying to get through on the phone. I finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to a real person at SSA in about 15 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. There's a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU Worth it to get accurate info about your specific situation since the GPO calculation depends on your ex's earnings record and your specific pension details. Online calculators just don't handle these complex WEP/GPO situations accurately.

my aunt got dinged by this too. she worked for the post office 30 years and her husband was a truck driver who paid into SS. when he died she thought shed get his SS but nope they took most of it away because of her federal pension. gpo is so unfair.

One important thing to note: if you have 30+ years of "substantial earnings" under Social Security (in addition to your government pension job), you might be exempt from WEP. But GPO would still apply to any spousal/survivor benefits regardless of how many years of substantial SS earnings you have. For 2025, "substantial earnings" means you earned at least $31,275 in a year under Social Security. The threshold was lower in previous years. So while your own SS benefit might not be reduced by WEP if you have those 30 years, your ex-spousal benefit would still be reduced by GPO regardless.

Isn't there some kind of loophole where if you work your last day in a non-pension covered job you can avoid GPO? I think I read something about that somewhere but I'm not sure if it's true or how it works exactly.

its so confusing!! my friend works for a school but payed into ss not a pension and shes freaking out about all this wep gpo stuff. does it only matter if u have a actual gov pension?? or does it affect everyone who worked for schools/gov?

EVERYONE impacted by WEP and GPO should join advocacy groups fighting to repeal these unfair penalties! There are bills in Congress almost every year to reform or repeal them but they never pass because most people don't understand these rules until they're personally affected! I'm part of a retired teachers group that's lobbying on this issue. The Social Security Fairness Act would repeal both WEP and GPO but it keeps stalling in Congress. Google "repeal WEP GPO" to find groups in your state working on this. Public servants are getting ROBBED of benefits and it needs to STOP!