Will my mom escape Government Pension Offset (GPO) and collect half of dad's Social Security even with state pension?

Unfortunately, your mom is likely affected by the Government Pension Offset (GPO). This rule reduces spousal benefits by 2/3 of her government pension amount. So if her state pension is $2,200, the reduction would be approximately $1,467, which would be subtracted from any spousal benefit she might be eligible for. If half of your dad's benefit is $1,880, after applying the GPO reduction, she would theoretically be eligible for $413 ($1,880 - $1,467). But since she's already getting $480 from her own record, she wouldn't receive any additional spousal benefits because SSA only pays the higher of the two amounts. Age doesn't matter for GPO - it applies regardless of when you claim benefits.

My sister's husband was a state trooper and she got hit with that GPO thing too when she tried to claim on his record!!! She was FURIOUS because she lost like $1000 a month she thought she would get. The government is STEALING from seniors who worked their whole lives!! Social security is such a SCAM!

There might be exceptions to the GPO that could help your mom. If she paid Social Security taxes on her last 60 months of government employment, or if she switched to a job covered by Social Security before retiring, the GPO might not apply. It's worth checking if either of these exceptions might fit her situation. I'd recommend calling SSA directly to verify her specific circumstances, as these rules have very specific requirements and even small details can make a big difference.

my wife had same problem. we spend 3 weeks trying to get someone at ss on the phone, got hung up on 4 times. finally tried service called claimyr at claimyr.com and they got us connected to ssa agent in 20 mins. the agent confirmed gpo would apply but checked her work history and found she had 62 months where she paid into ss at her govt job so she qualified for exception!! check out their video if you want to see how it works https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU saved us like 30 hrs of frustration

Has your mom checked if she qualifies for the exceptions to GPO? Sometimes if you paid into Social Security for your last 60 months of government work you can be exempt. Also sometimes they calculate these things wrong - I had to go back THREE TIMES to get them to fix my husband's WEP calculation. They kept using the wrong number of years for substantial earnings. Definitely worth double-checking everything.

My cousin went thru this last yr. Said the key is getting someome at SSA who actually understands GPO/WEP bc not all of them do lol. Good luck!

To directly answer your question: Unless your mother qualifies for one of the GPO exceptions, she likely won't receive additional spousal benefits. The calculation works like this: 1. Calculate potential spousal benefit: 50% of your father's PIA = $1,880 2. Calculate GPO reduction: 2/3 of government pension = $1,467 3. Subtract GPO reduction from spousal benefit: $1,880 - $1,467 = $413 4. Compare to her own benefit: $480 > $413 Since her own reduced benefit is higher than what she'd get as a spouse after GPO, she'll continue receiving just her own benefit. I'd recommend requesting a Benefits Planning Query (BPQY) from SSA to verify all calculations and check if she might qualify for any exceptions.

wait does she get any of his benefit if he passes away? or does gpo still apply to widow benefits to?