Survivor benefits with WEP: Can I get my deceased husband's Social Security with teacher's pension?

This is definitely a complicated situation! The key factors are: 1) WEP (Windfall Elimination Provision) affects your OWN Social Security benefits if you receive a pension from work where you didn't pay Social Security taxes. 2) GPO (Government Pension Offset) affects SPOUSAL or SURVIVOR benefits if you receive a government pension from work not covered by Social Security. Since you're already collecting your own Social Security benefit (even with possible WEP reduction), you should definitely be eligible for survivor benefits if they would be higher than your current payment. The general rule is you receive the higher of either your own benefit or the survivor benefit. The fact that you paid into both systems during 1970-1977 might qualify you for a WEP exemption if you have 30+ years of substantial earnings under Social Security. Request a detailed benefit calculation that accounts for those dual-contribution years.

im in almost the same situation except my husband is still alive. the gpo is going to reduce your survivors benefit by 2/3 of your teachers pension. so if your pension is $3000 a month theyd subtract $2000 from whatever your husbands benefit wouldve been. if anything is left after that calculation you can get it

The system TOTALLY screws over teachers and other public servants!!! I worked 25 years as a firefighter AND had a second job the whole time paying into SS, and they still cut my SS benefit by almost 40% because of WEP. And my wife can't even get spousal benefits off my record because of GPO when I die. It's ROBBERY! We need to contact our representatives and demand they repeal these unfair provisions! Look up the Social Security Fairness Act - it would eliminate both WEP and GPO but Congress keeps letting it die.

You should definitely request a recalculation of your benefits now. Since it's been 6 years since your husband passed, your survivor benefits may now be higher than your own benefit even with the GPO reduction. Here's why: 1. Your own benefit had WEP applied to it, potentially reducing it significantly 2. Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs) over 6 years have been applied to both your benefit and what your survivor benefit would be 3. If your husband was collecting benefits when he passed, his benefit amount would have been higher than when you initially compared Request a detailed calculation using form SSA-795 (Statement of Claimant) specifically mentioning those 1970-1977 years where you paid into both systems. Sometimes those dual-contribution years can reduce the WEP impact depending on how they're classified.

I was in a somewhat similar situation last year trying to sort out my WEP/GPO issues. I spent WEEKS trying to get through to someone at Social Security who actually understood these provisions. After getting disconnected multiple times and waiting on hold for hours, I finally tried using a service called Claimyr that got me through to an actual SSA agent in under 10 minutes. They have a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU The agent I spoke with was able to run the calculations right there on the phone and confirm that I was eligible for a partial survivor benefit despite the GPO. It was definitely worth getting that personalized calculation rather than just accepting what I thought was the case.

My aunt went through something just like this! she teaches 4 like 35 years and when her husband died they told her she couldn't get his SS even tho he paid in his whole life. Something about the pension cancelling it out? But then she went to SSA with all her old paystubs showing she DID pay SS during some teaching years and they recalculated and gave her a small survivor benefit. not much but better than nothing!

To answer your follow-up question - yes, it does matter that your husband hadn't started collecting yet when he passed away at 61. In this case, your survivor benefit would be based on: 1. 100% of what your husband would have received if he had reached his Full Retirement Age (FRA) 2. This amount would then be subject to the GPO reduction (2/3 of your government pension) Since he hadn't started collecting, you're eligible for his full FRA benefit amount (before the GPO reduction), not just what he was receiving. This could potentially make a significant difference in the calculation. Also, make sure to bring documentation of your 1970-1977 dual contribution period. Those years might qualify for the "substantial earnings" test that could reduce the WEP impact on your own benefit, which in turn might affect whether your own benefit or the survivor benefit is higher.

Has anyone on here actually gotten the GPO completely eliminated because of those years paying into both systems? My mom is in a similar situation with some years of dual contributions but SS told her it didn't matter.