Does spousal Social Security benefits increase automatically when spouse files or do we need to contact SSA?

This is definitely confusing! Spousal benefits are generally automatic IF you're already receiving your own retirement benefits when your spouse files. However, there are some situations where SSA might need additional information. Here's what happens: when your husband's benefits start in October, the SSA should automatically recalculate your benefit to include the higher spousal amount. You're entitled to the higher of either your own benefit OR up to 50% of your husband's Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) at his Full Retirement Age. But since you're already collecting your own benefits, they'll just pay the difference if the spousal benefit is higher. You won't see any notifications about this until closer to when your husband's benefits actually start in October. If by mid-October you don't see an adjustment in your benefit amount, that's when you should contact SSA. One thing to double check - did your husband list you as his spouse on his application? If not, that could delay the spousal benefit calculation.

The SSA is TOTALLY inconsistent with this!!!! When my husband filed last year, I had to call them THREE TIMES before they finally adjusted my spousal benefit. They kept saying it would be "automatic" but NOTHING HAPPENED for months!!!! Don't just sit and wait - you need to be proactive and keep calling them until they fix it! The system is broken and unless you stay on top of them, you'll lose money that's rightfully yours!!! My neighbor had the exact same problem and ended up waiting 5 months before her spousal increase kicked in. They did give her backpay but it was such a hassle!!!

I had a similar situation last year when my wife filed for her SS retirement. I was already getting my own small benefit (about $920). What happened in my case is that after my wife's first payment started, about 2 weeks later I got a letter saying my benefit would increase because of the spousal addition. The actual increase showed up in my direct deposit the following month. The frustrating part was trying to call SSA to confirm everything was processing correctly. I spent hours on hold and kept getting disconnected. I finally found a service called Claimyr that got me through to an SSA agent in about 20 minutes instead of waiting for hours. Their website is claimyr.com and they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU It turned out everything was processing normally in my case, but at least I got peace of mind knowing I didn't need to file anything additional. The agent confirmed it was all being handled on their end.

They did explain it to me. The calculation is that you'll get the higher of either your own benefit OR up to 50% of your husband's Primary Insurance Amount (what he'd get at full retirement age). Since you're already getting your own benefit, they'll just add the difference if the spousal amount is higher. For example, if your husband's PIA is $2,400, then your spousal benefit would be $1,200 (50%). Since you're already getting $850 from your own record, you'd get an additional $350 to bring you up to the $1,200. The agent walked me through my specific numbers when I called.

My wife n me went thru this last yr. SSA never sent her nothing bout the spouse increase. We waited 3 months after my benefits started. Nothing. Called them and they said "oops we forgot" and fixed it but took another month. Got backpay tho. Just keep an eye on it they make mistakes!!

Aren't spousal benefits and survivor benefits the same thing? My neighbor's husband passed away and she gets his full benefit amount now. Is that what you're asking about?

Update: I finally broke down and called SSA this morning (waited on hold for 1.5 hours!). The representative told me that spousal benefits are *supposed* to be automatic, but their system has been having issues lately with the automatic calculations. She recommended that I call back about 2 weeks after my husband's first payment arrives to check on the status of my spousal increase. She said there's a good chance I'll need to specifically request it, even though it should happen automatically. So frustrating! But at least now I know I need to be proactive about this. Will update again in October after his payments start.

my aunt had this problem too she was getting her own SS for years then uncle retired. took SSA 3 months to increase her check but they did pay the back money. dont worry too much but def call if october comes and nothing happens