Social Security reduced my survivor benefits due to GPO but I don't have a government pension - help!

This sounds like a classic case of SSA misunderstanding the difference between YOUR government pension and a SURVIVOR pension from your husband's government employment. The GPO (Government Pension Offset) only applies if YOU worked in non-covered government employment and earned your own pension. Survivor benefits from your husband's government employment should NOT trigger GPO. Bring documentation clearly showing these are survivor benefits, not your own pension. Specifically bring: 1. The award letters for both survivor benefits showing they are specifically "survivor" annuities 2. Your husband's death certificate 3. Documentation of your own work history (to show you don't have non-covered government employment) Ask specifically for a reconsideration of the GPO determination. This is a common error that can be fixed.

the same exact thing happened to my mother after my dad died!!! they kept saying she had a "government pension" but it was actually just survivor benefits from his postal service job. took like 4 months to fix and they kept giving her different answers every time she called

The Social Security Administration often confuses survivor benefits from government pensions with actual government pensions earned by the beneficiary. This is a technical distinction that many SSA employees get wrong. What's happening is they're incorrectly applying the Government Pension Offset (GPO) to your case. The GPO only applies when YOU earned a pension from government work where you didn't pay Social Security taxes. It does NOT apply to survivor benefits you receive from your husband's government employment. When you go to the SSA office, specifically ask them to document that these are SURVIVOR benefits, not YOUR government pension. Request a formal reconsideration of the GPO determination. Be prepared for them to initially push back - many SSA representatives don't fully understand this distinction.

sry ur going thru this bs!! my aunt had similar issue w/ her late husbands police pension and ssa kept reducing her benefits. total nightmare getting it fixed. good luck!!

I went through this EXACT situation last year after my husband died! I was getting his firefighter pension and military benefits too, and SSA tried to apply GPO and reduce my survivor benefits. It was a complete mess. What worked for me was getting a letter from both pension administrators explicitly stating these were "survivor benefits paid to a widow" and not my own earned pension. I also printed out the SSA's own policy about GPO from their website which clearly states it only applies to pensions YOU earned from non-covered employment. Here's what I learned: Don't just visit the office - that didn't work for me. I had to: 1. File a formal Request for Reconsideration (Form SSA-561) 2. Provide very specific documentation about the nature of the benefits 3. Reference specific SSA rules about GPO It took about 8 weeks but they reversed the decision and paid me back everything. I've found that calling SSA is nearly impossible these days - I spent HOURS trying to get through. I finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an agent in under 15 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU. It was so much better than waiting on hold for hours only to get disconnected.

have u checked weather the military benefits are taxable??? my husbands va benefits didnt effect my ss but his military pension did because of some rule. its all very confusing!!

I hate to say this but you might be facing an uphill battle. The SSA routinely applies GPO incorrectly and their own employees often don't understand the rules. I've seen cases like yours take MONTHS to resolve. When you visit the office, they'll probably tell you that you need to file a formal appeal. Don't leave without getting something in writing! And don't sign anything acknowledging the debt is valid. ALSO - check if your husband's military service was before 1957 or if his fire department was part of a state system that didn't participate in Social Security. Some special rules might apply in those cases.

Thank you everyone for your helpful responses! I was feeling so overwhelmed before posting here. I've started gathering all the documentation suggested, including letters from both pension administrators clearly stating these are survivor benefits. I'll be filing the SSA-561 form for reconsideration and bringing copies of SSA's own policy on GPO. I'm still nervous about the meeting next week, but I feel much better prepared now. I'll update this thread after my appointment to let you know how it goes in case anyone else faces a similar situation.