Social Security Fairness Act and ex-spouse benefits when there's a widow - CA teacher WEP/GPO question
I'm trying to understand if the new Social Security Fairness Act helps my situation. My sister taught in California public schools for 22 years, but worked part-time for about 8 of those years when raising her kids. She gets a modest pension (about $2,100/month). As you probably know, CA teachers don't pay into Social Security. Her situation got complicated when her husband of nearly 20 years divorced her in 2020 and quickly remarried. He passed away last month. My sister never remarried. We just heard about this Social Security Fairness Act passing, and now we're wondering - could my sister qualify for any ex-spousal survivor benefits from his Social Security record even though there's a current widow? Her ex was a high earner (over $175K annually for many years) with a substantial SS benefit. Does anyone understand how the Government Pension Offset (GPO) changes under this new law might affect her case? Would she need to have been married for 10+ years (which she was)? I'm so confused about how the widow vs. ex-spouse hierarchy works here.
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Sean Kelly
Yes, your sister might qualify for ex-spouse survivor benefits even with another widow in the picture. The key factors are: 1) She was married to him for more than 10 years (she meets this with 20 years), 2) She didn't remarry before age 60 (she didn't remarry at all), and 3) She's at least 60 years old (you didn't mention her age). The Social Security Fairness Act does phase out the GPO over 5 years starting in 2025, which will help her tremendously. Currently, the GPO would reduce her Social Security ex-spouse survivor benefits by 2/3 of her teacher pension. As the GPO phases out, she'll keep more of those benefits. The current widow doesn't affect her eligibility - both can receive benefits based on the same worker's record. However, the benefit amount is limited to what the deceased would have received.
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StellarSurfer
•Thank you so much! She just turned 64 last month. So if I understand correctly, even before the Social Security Fairness Act, she would've been eligible for some amount (reduced by GPO), but now she'll eventually get more as GPO phases out? Should she apply right away or wait until the GPO reductions start decreasing?
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Zara Malik
Can she really get anything??? My mom was in almost IDENTICAL situation (CA teacher, ex died, there's a widow) and Social Security flat-out DENIED her claim!!! Said she couldn't get ANYTHING because of her pension!!! This makes no sense!!! The rules are SO CONFUSING and seem to change depending on which SSA worker you talk to!!!!
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Sean Kelly
•Your mom's claim was likely denied because of the GPO (Government Pension Offset). Before the new Fairness Act, the GPO would reduce Social Security survivor benefits by 2/3 of the pension amount. If your mom's pension was large enough, it could have completely eliminated her survivor benefits. For example, if she had a $3,000 monthly pension, the GPO would reduce her survivor benefits by $2,000. If her survivor benefit was less than $2,000, she'd get nothing. The new law will gradually eliminate this reduction, so it's worth having your mom reapply once the changes take effect in 2025.
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Luca Greco
My cousin works for SSA and says ex-spouses and current spouses can both collect. They don't reduce each other's benefits. Your sister should definitely apply!
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Nia Thompson
•This is true but OP's sister will still have the GPO issue until it phases out. Just want to make sure expectations are realistic!
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Mateo Rodriguez
I went through something similar with my father who was a retired firefighter in Illinois. The GPO was absolutely devastating to what he could receive from my mother's record after she passed. The Social Security Fairness Act is going to be life-changing for so many public servants. The phase-out schedule is: - 80% of the GPO reduction applies in 2025 - 60% in 2026 - 40% in 2027 - 20% in 2028 - Fully eliminated in 2029 Your sister should absolutely apply as soon as possible. Even with the GPO still partially in effect, she might get something. The application establishes her filing date, which could be important for back payments once the law takes effect. However, I recommend she call SSA to discuss this first... which can be nearly impossible these days. After trying for weeks to get through, I used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to a real person at SSA within about 20 minutes. They have a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. Saved me hours of hold time and disconnected calls.
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StellarSurfer
•Thank you for the detailed phase-out schedule! That makes it much clearer. And thanks for the tip about Claimyr - my sister has tried calling SSA twice and got disconnected both times after waiting over an hour. She'll definitely check that out.
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Aisha Hussain
I think everyone's missing something important here. The Social Security Fairness Act primarily addresses the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), which affects your own Social Security benefits if you also receive a non-covered pension. The GPO affects spousal/survivor benefits, and while the Act does address GPO too, the rules are complex. Your sister needs to know exactly how much her potential survivor benefit would be before offset, and how much her teacher pension is. Only then can she calculate if she'll receive anything after the GPO reduction (even with the phase-out). For example, if her survivor benefit would be $1,800 and her teacher pension is $2,100, the GPO would reduce her benefit by $1,400 (2/3 of $2,100), leaving her with $400 in survivor benefits currently. As the GPO phases out, this would gradually increase. And yes, both a widow and an ex-spouse can collect simultaneously on the same worker's record without affecting each other.
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GalacticGladiator
•The new law actually phases out BOTH the WEP and GPO. I just read about this last week. So the teacher will get more of her ex's SS over the next few years as the GPO disappears.
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Nia Thompson
just wanted to say this is why i took a private school teaching job even tho it paid less. didn't want to deal with all this pension vs social security drama. the whole system is messed up.
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Zara Malik
•SMART CHOICE!!! My mother regrets her public school career EVERY DAY because of how she's being punished in retirement!!! The system is BROKEN!!!
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GalacticGladiator
Your sister needs to apply right away and specifically ask about the "deemed filing date" rules. Even if she gets denied now because of GPO, having an application on file might help her get retroactive benefits once the GPO phases out. At least that's what my financial advisor told me for my similar situation.
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StellarSurfer
•That's really helpful - I hadn't thought about the deemed filing date issue. I'll make sure she applies soon then, even if she might not get much initially. Thanks!
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Luca Greco
wait does this new law help people who worked in jobs with pensions AND had some social security covered jobs? my dad worked for the post office for 25 years but also had enough social security credits from earlier jobs but got his SS benefit reduced because of WEP
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Sean Kelly
•Yes! The Social Security Fairness Act will help your dad too. It phases out the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) over the same 5-year period (2025-2029). The WEP currently reduces Social Security benefits for people who receive pensions from jobs not covered by Social Security. As it phases out, your dad should see his Social Security benefit increase.
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