Social Security Fairness Act confusion - Can ex-spouse with CSRS pension collect on my record?

The SSA representative was correct, unfortunately. The Social Security Fairness Act of 2023 made changes to the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), but didn't fully eliminate the Government Pension Offset (GPO) which is what affects your ex-husband's situation. The GPO still reduces spousal/survivor benefits by 2/3 of the government pension amount. If 2/3 of his CSRS pension exceeds half of your FRA benefit, then mathematically there would be nothing left to pay him. Example: If your FRA benefit is $2,000, his potential spousal benefit would be $1,000 (50%). If his CSRS pension is $1,800/month, then the GPO reduction would be $1,200 (2/3 of $1,800). Since $1,200 > $1,000, there would be no remaining spousal benefit payable.

I'm going through something similar with my husband!!! He also has CSRS and we thought the new law would help us but we're getting conflicting information every time we call. One rep told us he WOULD qualify for some of my SS and another said absolutely not. It's making me so anxious because we've been planning our retirement budget around this extra money. Has your ex tried going into the local office instead of calling? Maybe they know more??

The confusion here is understandable. The Social Security Fairness Act that passed has been modified significantly from earlier versions that would have eliminated both WEP and GPO entirely. The final version that was included in the Fiscal Responsibility Act focuses primarily on adjustments to the WEP formula rather than eliminating the GPO. For your ex-husband's specific situation: 1. The GPO reduction is still 2/3 of his government pension 2. This is subtracted from any potential spousal benefit (which is 50% of your FRA amount) 3. If the reduction exceeds the potential benefit, no payment is made With his CSRS pension at $3,900, the reduction would be approximately $2,600 (as you calculated). Since this exceeds the potential spousal benefit of $1,300, there's no remaining benefit payable. The original legislation to fully eliminate both provisions has been introduced multiple times but hasn't passed in its complete form.

my cousin works for ssa and he told me the fairness act only changes wep not gpo at all. the news got it all wrong when reporting. most people with government pensions still cant get spousal benefits if there pension is big enough.

I had nearly the EXACT same situation last month - ex-husband with CSRS pension trying to claim on my record after the Fairness Act. I spent THREE DAYS trying to get through to SSA for a clear explanation because every news article made it sound like he should qualify for something now. After being disconnected five times and spending hours on hold, I finally tried Claimyr (claimyr.com) which connected me to an SSA agent in under 20 minutes. The rep confirmed what others here are saying - GPO is still in effect, just slightly modified. The rep walked me through the exact calculation showing why my ex wouldn't receive anything based on my record due to his pension amount. You can see how their service works in this video: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU - saved me so much frustration after days of trying to get answers.

THE WHOLE FAIRNESS ACT IS A JOKE!!!!! They promoted it like it was going to fix everything for government workers but then watered it down to practically NOTHING!!! My husband worked 30 YEARS for the city and gets ZERO from my SS even though I paid in my WHOLE LIFE! How is that FAIR??? They should have just been honest and called it the "SLIGHTLY LESS UNFAIR ACT" instead!!!!!

To directly answer your question: Yes, the SSA rep gave your ex-husband correct information. To qualify for spousal benefits on your record with a CSRS pension, the potential spousal benefit (50% of your FRA amount) must be greater than the GPO reduction (2/3 of his CSRS pension). Potential strategies to consider: 1. If your ex-husband also has at least 40 credits from other work covered by Social Security, he should check on his own retirement benefit which would be subject to WEP (which was modified favorably by the Fairness Act) but not GPO. 2. If he's turning 62 in 2025 rather than already being 62, the phase-in of additional Fairness Act provisions might affect his calculation slightly. 3. If your FRA benefit increases substantially in the future (through continued work or delayed retirement), it might change the calculation.

I'm so sorry you're dealing with this confusion - it's incredibly frustrating when the media coverage made it sound like these changes would help so many more people than they actually do. Your situation is unfortunately very common right now. Just to add some clarity for anyone else reading: the Social Security Fairness Act that passed primarily addressed the WEP (Windfall Elimination Provision) which affects people's own Social Security benefits when they have government pensions. The GPO (Government Pension Offset) that affects spousal and survivor benefits was left largely unchanged. The math in your ex-husband's case is pretty clear-cut unfortunately. With a $3,900 CSRS pension, the GPO reduction would be about $2,600 (2/3 of his pension), which completely wipes out any potential spousal benefit he could receive from your record. I know this doesn't make the disappointment any easier, but at least now you both have accurate information to plan with. The misinformation in news coverage has created false hope for so many families in similar situations.

I'm dealing with almost the exact same situation! My ex-husband has a state teacher's pension and we were both so hopeful when we heard about the Social Security Fairness Act passing. He's 64 and I'm 63, and we've been divorced for 8 years after 22 years of marriage. When he called SSA last week, they told him the same thing - that his pension is too high for him to get any spousal benefits from my record. His monthly pension is around $3,200, and my estimated FRA benefit is about $2,100. So half of mine would be $1,050, but 2/3 of his pension is over $2,100 - way more than what he could potentially get. It's so frustrating because like everyone else here, we really thought this new law was going to help people like us. The news coverage made it sound like government workers would finally get fair treatment, but it seems like the GPO is still destroying any chance of spousal benefits for most people with decent pensions. I really appreciate everyone sharing their experiences here - at least now I know we're not the only ones who got our hopes up for nothing. It helps to know the SSA reps are giving consistent information even if it's not what we wanted to hear.

I'm really sorry to hear about all the confusion and disappointment everyone is experiencing. As someone who just joined this community, I'm learning so much from reading all your experiences with the Social Security Fairness Act. It sounds like the media really did a disservice by overselling what this legislation would actually accomplish. From what I'm reading here, it seems like most people with substantial government pensions are still going to be affected by the GPO when it comes to spousal benefits, even after the new law. I'm wondering - has anyone here tried contacting their representatives about this? It seems like there's still a real need for full GPO repeal given how many families are being affected. Maybe if enough people share their stories, lawmakers might be motivated to introduce stronger legislation in the future. Thank you all for sharing such detailed explanations and calculations. This thread has been incredibly educational for someone trying to understand how these provisions actually work in practice.

I'm new to this community but wanted to share my appreciation for how clearly everyone has explained this situation. My husband is a retired postal worker with CSRS and we've been getting the runaround from SSA for weeks trying to understand his eligibility for spousal benefits on my record. After reading through all these responses, I finally understand the math. His pension is $2,400 monthly, so the GPO reduction would be about $1,600 (2/3 of his pension). My FRA benefit is estimated at $2,200, so his potential spousal benefit would be $1,100 - but since the GPO reduction of $1,600 is higher, there's nothing left to pay him. It's really disappointing that the media coverage made it sound like the Fairness Act would help people in our situation. We've been planning our budget around the assumption he'd get something from my Social Security record. At least now I can stop calling SSA every week hoping for a different answer! Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences and doing the math so clearly. This thread has saved me a lot of continued frustration and false hope.

I'm new to this community and just went through almost the exact same situation with my ex-husband! He's a retired federal employee with CSRS and we were both so excited when we heard about the Social Security Fairness Act passing. Like everyone else here, we thought this would finally allow him to collect spousal benefits on my record after our 27-year marriage. When he called SSA last month at age 63, they gave him the same answer - no benefits available because his CSRS pension is too high. His monthly pension is $3,400 and my FRA benefit is estimated at $2,300. So the potential spousal benefit would be $1,150, but the GPO reduction would be about $2,267 (2/3 of his pension), which completely eliminates any payment. Reading through everyone's experiences here has been both validating and disappointing. It's clear that so many of us fell for the same misleading media coverage that made it sound like the GPO was being eliminated entirely. I really appreciate how clearly people have explained the math - it helps to finally understand why we keep getting told "no" instead of wondering if we're missing something. Thank you all for sharing your stories. It's comforting to know we're not alone in this situation, even though it's not the outcome any of us were hoping for.

I'm new to this community but wanted to share my experience since it mirrors so many others here. My ex-husband is a retired state employee with a pension, and we also got swept up in the excitement around the Social Security Fairness Act thinking it would finally allow him to collect spousal benefits on my record. After calling SSA multiple times and getting the same answer everyone else has received, I finally understand why the GPO is still blocking any payments. His state pension is $2,800 monthly, which creates a GPO reduction of about $1,867 (2/3 of his pension). Since my FRA benefit is estimated at $2,000, his potential spousal benefit would only be $1,000 - but the $1,867 reduction completely eliminates any payment. Like so many others have mentioned, the media coverage really made it sound like both WEP and GPO were being eliminated, when in reality only WEP saw significant changes. It's been a hard lesson in reading the fine print rather than relying on news headlines! I'm grateful for this thread explaining everything so clearly. At least now I can stop hoping for something that isn't actually available under the current law and help my ex-husband understand why SSA keeps giving him the same answer. Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences - it really helps to know we're not alone in this situation.

I'm new to this community and just want to thank everyone for sharing such detailed explanations about the Social Security Fairness Act and GPO. My situation is a bit different - my ex-wife has a teacher's pension from working in public schools for 28 years, and we were also hoping the new legislation would help her qualify for spousal benefits on my record. After reading through all these posts and doing the math myself, I can see why SSA told her she wouldn't qualify. Her pension is about $2,600 monthly, so the GPO reduction would be around $1,733 (2/3 of her pension). My FRA benefit is estimated at $2,400, which means her potential spousal benefit would be $1,200 - but since the GPO reduction is higher at $1,733, there's nothing left to pay. It's really eye-opening to see how many people are in similar situations and how misleading the media coverage was about what this law would actually change. I appreciate how clearly everyone has broken down the calculations - it finally makes sense why we keep getting the same answer from Social Security despite all the news about "fairness" for government workers. This thread has saved us from continuing to chase something that simply isn't available under the current law. Thank you all for sharing your experiences and helping newcomers like me understand the reality of how these provisions work!

I'm new to this community and unfortunately dealing with a very similar situation. My ex-husband is a retired federal employee with CSRS who we thought would finally be able to collect spousal benefits on my record after the Social Security Fairness Act passed. Like so many others here, we were completely misled by the media coverage that made it sound like the GPO was being eliminated. His CSRS pension is $3,100 monthly, which means the GPO reduction would be about $2,067 (2/3 of his pension). My FRA benefit is estimated at $2,200, so his potential spousal benefit would be $1,100. Since the GPO reduction of $2,067 is nearly double the potential benefit, there's absolutely nothing left to pay him. After reading through everyone's experiences here, I finally understand why SSA keeps giving us the same answer. It's incredibly disappointing because we had already started adjusting our retirement plans based on what we thought would be additional income. The fact that so many families fell for the same misleading headlines really shows how poorly this legislation was explained to the public. Thank you everyone for sharing your stories and breaking down the math so clearly. It's both frustrating and comforting to know we're not alone in this situation. At least now we can stop chasing something that doesn't actually exist under the current law and plan our finances more realistically.

I'm new to this community but wanted to share my experience since it's so similar to what everyone else is describing. My ex-husband has a state pension from his career as a highway department supervisor, and we were both convinced the Social Security Fairness Act would finally allow him to collect spousal benefits on my record after our 24-year marriage. When he called SSA two weeks ago at age 65, they gave him the same disappointing news everyone else has received. His monthly pension is $2,900, which creates a GPO reduction of about $1,933 (2/3 of his pension). My FRA benefit is estimated at $2,100, so his potential spousal benefit would be $1,050 - but since the GPO reduction is nearly double that amount, there's nothing left to pay him. Reading through all these posts has been both educational and heartbreaking. It's clear that the media completely oversold what this legislation would accomplish, leading so many families to believe comprehensive pension reform was happening when really the GPO was left almost entirely intact. We had actually started budgeting for that extra monthly income, thinking finally after all these years of feeling penalized for his public service, there would be some relief. Thank you everyone for sharing your calculations and experiences so openly. It helps tremendously to understand we're not alone in this disappointment and that the SSA representatives are at least giving consistent (if unwelcome) information. At least now I can stop wondering if we're missing something and focus on planning with the reality of our actual available benefits.

I'm new to this community and unfortunately experiencing the exact same situation as so many others here. My ex-husband is a retired postal worker with CSRS, and like everyone else, we got completely swept up in the excitement around the Social Security Fairness Act thinking it would finally allow him to access spousal benefits on my record. His CSRS pension is $3,200 monthly, which means the GPO reduction would be about $2,133 (2/3 of his pension). My FRA benefit is estimated at $1,950, so his potential spousal benefit would only be $975. Since the GPO reduction of $2,133 is more than double the potential benefit, there's absolutely nothing available for him to collect. After reading through everyone's detailed explanations here, I finally understand why SSA has been giving us consistent "no" answers despite all the news coverage about helping government workers. The media really did a disservice by making it sound like both WEP and GPO were being eliminated when apparently only WEP saw meaningful changes. We had already started planning our retirement budget around this additional income, so the disappointment has been significant. But I'm grateful for this thread helping me understand the actual math behind these decisions rather than continuing to wonder if we were missing something or getting incorrect information from SSA. Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences so openly - it's both comforting and frustrating to see how many families are dealing with this same reality despite the "Fairness Act" passing.