Will Social Security survivor benefits be affected by WEP if my late husband was a police officer?

Sorry about your husband. This WEP/GPO stuff is super confusing! I think GPO (Government Pension Offset) is what affects widows not WEP. WEP affects your own benefits if YOU worked in a non-SS covered job. But GPO can reduce survivor benefits if you get a govt pension from a job not covered by SS. But since your talking about HIS pension not yours, I'm not even sure GPO applies to you? The rules make my head hurt!!

I can help clarify this situation: 1) WEP (Windfall Elimination Provision) only affected your husband's own Social Security retirement benefits while he was alive. It does NOT carry over to reduce your survivor benefits. However, there is a separate provision called GPO (Government Pension Offset) that could affect your survivor benefits if YOU personally receive a government pension from non-SS-covered work. Since you mentioned working in retail management, which typically is covered by Social Security, GPO likely wouldn't apply to you. 2) Your own Social Security retirement benefits based on your 30 years of retail management will not be reduced by WEP or GPO simply because you're receiving your husband's police pension as a survivor. WEP only applies to individuals who themselves worked in jobs not covered by Social Security. The confusion you encountered when calling SSA likely stems from representatives mixing up WEP and GPO rules or misunderstanding whose pension is involved. I recommend requesting an appointment with a technical expert at your local SSA office who specializes in these provisions.

my husband was a firefiter for 35 years and i went thru this same mess last year when he passed. you should be fine since YOU didnt work for the government. they cant take money from you for a pension YOU didnt earn!! the people on the phone dont know what there talking about half the time

The Social Security rules around government pensions are some of the most confusing in the entire system! I went through something similar with my wife who was a teacher in a non-covered state. One thing no one's mentioned yet - you should look into whether you're better off taking your OWN retirement benefit or the SURVIVOR benefit. You can actually take one now and switch to the other later. For example, you could take your survivor benefit now and let your own benefit grow until 70, then switch. Or take your own reduced benefit early and switch to survivor benefits at your full retirement age. Be VERY careful about your filing strategy - it can mean tens of thousands of dollars difference over your lifetime!!

I had the EXACT same situation!!! Husband was police officer, died 2018, I get his pension. The SSA people on the phone kept confusing me too! I wasted MONTHS trying to get correct information. Here's what I learned after all that: WEP only affected HIM while alive. My survivor benefits were based on his WEP-reduced amount, but there was no additional WEP reduction. And my own SS from my nursing career wasn't affected at all by his pension. Try using Claimyr.com to get through to SSA faster. I spent hours on hold before finding that service. You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU - it connected me to a real person in 20 minutes instead of endless hold times. The rep I finally talked to pulled up all the details and confirmed everything I just told you.

Let me add some technical clarification here that might help. There are specific rules about WEP and GPO that apply differently: - WEP only applies to the worker's own benefits (your husband) and is already factored into any survivor benefit calculation - GPO would only apply if YOU earned a pension from non-SS-covered government work - Your survivor benefit is generally calculated as 100% of what your husband was receiving at his death (including any WEP reduction already applied) - You're entitled to the higher of either your own benefit or the survivor benefit (though you can strategize when to take each) When you contact SSA, specifically ask for someone who specializes in WEP/GPO cases. Regular representatives often don't deal with these special provisions frequently enough to give accurate information.

everyones making this WAY MORE COMPLICATED then it needs to be!!! WEP affected your husbands benefit ONLY! it has NOTHING to do with you or your survivors benefit at all!!! And your own SS wont be affected by his pension AT ALL. Period. The SSA people just dont know what there talking about and make everything confusing on purpose so you give up!!!

Isn't there some rule about if your husband had 30+ years of substantial earnings under SS that WEP doesn't apply at all? Maybe that's why you got different answers - they might need to check his full earnings record to see if that exception applies?

One thing that hasnt been mentioned - you should bring your marriage certificate, his death certificate, and your birth certificate to your SSA appointment. They'll need these to process any survivor benefit claim if you haven't already filed. And get there first thing in the morning when they open - the wait times get crazy after about 10am!