Can my LEO husband switch to spousal benefits on my SS record when his own benefit is so small?

Yes, your husband may be eligible for spousal benefits, but there are some key things to understand: 1. Since your husband is already receiving his own retirement benefit, he would receive a spousal benefit equal to the DIFFERENCE between his current benefit and 50% of yours (if that amount is higher). 2. So if 50% of your benefit is $1,550, and he currently gets $525, he could receive an additional $1,025 monthly (bringing his total to $1,550). 3. Because you married after he started collecting, he needs to contact SSA directly to apply for the spousal benefit - it won't happen automatically. 4. His pension from the corrections system might affect this through something called the Government Pension Offset (GPO), which can reduce spousal benefits if he receives a pension from work not covered by Social Security. He should contact SSA immediately to find out exactly what he qualifies for given your specific situation.

The last commenter is right BUT also wrong!!! My brother-in-law was in almost IDENTICAL situation (police pension + small SS) and when he tried getting spousal benefits they slashed it to almost NOTHING because of GPO!!!! Government Pension Offset is BRUTAL with law enforcement pensions - they take 2/3 of his police pension amount and subtract it from any spousal benefit he would get. You need to be VERY careful and do the math before getting your hopes up. If his corrections pension is decent sized, he might get zero additional $$$ from being on your record.

I went through this last year with my husband! It was so confusing and the SSA website doesn't explain it clearly. We ended up getting a nice increase but not as much as I thought. Good luck!

I've helped several friends deal with this exact situation! The GPO (Government Pension Offset) is the big question here. Here's what determines if it applies: - If your husband was paying Social Security taxes on his corrections earnings, NO GPO. - If he wasn't paying SS taxes on those earnings, then GPO applies. Many state and local government jobs don't participate in Social Security. He should check his old pay stubs - if they show Social Security tax withholding, you're in the clear! If he's subject to GPO, honestly, he might get very little additional benefit. But if not, this could be a significant boost to your household income. When I needed to sort out my own complicated benefit situation last year, I was getting nowhere with the regular SSA phone line. I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an SSA representative in under 20 minutes instead of waiting for hours. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU - it saved me so much frustration! Definitely worth checking out if you're having trouble getting through.

Yes, it does work - I was skeptical too but was desperate after waiting on hold for 3+ hours multiple days. It's not a government service, it's just a connection service that basically navigates the phone system for you. The SSA doesn't have any official expedited phone service, but this worked for me when I needed to sort out my WEP reduction issue.

my sister went thru this last yr. don't forget hes still eligible for the lump sum death benefit when u pass away even with GPO. not much but its something.

One final point that might help others in similar situations: If your husband had enough Social Security-covered employment (40 quarters/10 years), he would be exempt from the WEP (Windfall Elimination Provision) that could otherwise reduce his own benefit. But GPO still applies to spousal benefits regardless of quarters of coverage. The distinction between WEP (affects your own benefit) and GPO (affects spousal/survivor benefits) confuses many people. And unfortunately, there's been legislation proposed to reform these provisions for years but nothing has passed yet.