Will Social Security Fairness Act allow my teacher sister to receive survivor benefits from late husband?
My sister taught in public schools for over 40 years and collects her teacher's pension. Her husband worked in the private sector his entire career, paying into Social Security consistently until he passed away three years ago. With all this talk about the Social Security Fairness Act possibly passing, I'm wondering if she might qualify for survivor benefits from his Social Security record? Right now she gets nothing from his SS because of that WEP/GPO reduction thing. Has the law actually changed yet? If it does pass, would she automatically get survivor benefits or would she need to apply again? Her pension is about $4,250/month and her husband's Social Security benefit was around $2,800/month when he died.
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Monique Byrd
As of early 2025, the Social Security Fairness Act has not been fully enacted yet, so your sister is still subject to the Government Pension Offset (GPO). The GPO reduces survivor benefits by two-thirds of her government pension. With a $4,250 monthly pension, that means a reduction of about $2,833, which would completely eliminate survivor benefits if her husband's benefit was $2,800. If the Act does eventually pass, she would need to apply for survivor benefits - it wouldn't be automatic. She should contact SSA or check her online account regularly for updates on the legislation's status.
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Alejandro Castro
•Thank you - that's really helpful. So even if it passes, she'll need to apply? Would she get any back payments from when her husband passed, or just from when she applies after the law changes?
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Jackie Martinez
my wife was in the exact same situation!!! taught for 35 yrs and couldn't get a DIME of my brothers SS when he died. its HIGHWAY ROBBERY what they do to teachers and other public workers!!! they earned those benefits fair and square just like everyone else!!!
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Lia Quinn
•I agree 100%! My mom was a school administrator for 30+ years, and when my dad passed in 2021, she got NOTHING from his Social Security despite him paying in his whole life. She lost almost $2200 a month that would have helped her so much. This WEP/GPO penalty is so unfair to public servants.
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Haley Stokes
The Social Security Fairness Act would indeed eliminate both the WEP (Windfall Elimination Provision) and GPO (Government Pension Offset) if passed. However, it's important to understand that as of February 2025, this legislation is still pending and has not been signed into law despite having bipartisan support. If it does pass: 1. Your sister would need to proactively apply for survivor benefits 2. Any benefits would likely start from the application date, not retroactively from her husband's death 3. She would potentially receive 100% of her husband's benefit amount if she's at her Full Retirement Age I recommend she prepare her documentation now (marriage certificate, husband's death certificate, information about her pension) so she's ready to apply immediately if the legislation passes.
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Alejandro Castro
•Thanks for the detailed explanation. That's disappointing about no retroactive benefits, but at least going forward she might get something. Is there anywhere to sign up for notifications about when/if this passes? She's not very tech savvy.
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Asher Levin
My mom went through something similar trying to get my dad's SS after he died. She was on hold with the SS office for DAYS and kept getting disconnected. So frustrating!!
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Serene Snow
•I had the same horrible experience trying to apply for benefits last month! I finally found a service called Claimyr that got me connected to a real SSA agent in under 10 minutes. It was such a relief after wasting days with busy signals and disconnections. They have a demo video at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU that shows how it works. Totally worth it for saving days of frustration, especially for complicated situations like GPO/WEP questions that only an actual agent can answer.
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Issac Nightingale
Wait I'm confused... I thought the GPO only takes away 2/3 of the pension? So if pension is $4250, wouldn't she still get some of husbands ss benefit? Or am I misunderstanding how this works?
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Monique Byrd
•You're understanding the rule correctly, but the math eliminates the benefit in this case. The GPO reduces survivor benefits by 2/3 of the non-covered pension amount. 2/3 of $4,250 = $2,833 Her potential survivor benefit would be her husband's $2,800 benefit. Since the reduction ($2,833) is more than the potential benefit ($2,800), she receives nothing. This is exactly why the Fairness Act has gained support - it would eliminate this reduction completely.
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Jackie Martinez
by the way tell ur sister to call her representatives in congress and DEMAND they pass this!!! they've been promising to fix this for YEARS and nothing ever happens!!!
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Lia Quinn
•YES! Call AND email them! My mom's been doing this for years. The more people who speak up, the better chance it might actually happen this time.
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Haley Stokes
To answer your question about notifications - your sister should: 1. Sign up for email updates from advocacy groups like the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) or the National Education Association (NEA) who track this legislation closely 2. Set up alerts on congress.gov for the specific bill numbers (though these change each session) 3. Follow her congressional representatives on social media as they'll likely announce when it passes If her question is specifically about applying for benefits should the law change, she should create a my Social Security account online where SSA posts important notices and updates.
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Alejandro Castro
•This is great, thank you. I'll help her sign up for some of these alerts. I just hope they actually pass it this year - it's been introduced so many times before.
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