Will my widowed mom's Social Security increase under the WEP/GPO Fairness Act with stepdad's federal pension?

Your mom's case is a perfect example of how the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) affect federal employees and their survivors. With your stepdad's USPS pension, his own Social Security was likely reduced by WEP, explaining the 'surprisingly small' check. As for your mom, she may be receiving reduced survivor benefits due to GPO if she's getting any portion of his federal pension. The Social Security Fairness Act would indeed eliminate these reductions, potentially increasing both the SS benefit your stepdad was receiving (which would increase her survivor benefit) and eliminating any GPO reduction to her survivor benefits. I suggest she contact SSA to confirm if WEP/GPO is affecting her current benefits so she knows exactly what might change.

OMG I'm going through almost the EXACT same thing with my dad's benefits!! His USPS pension absolutely DESTROYED his Social Security even though he worked other jobs for 15+ years!!! It's SO unfair. My mom only gets a tiny survivor benefit because of this stupid WEP rule. The Fairness Act needs to pass NOW. Has your mom called SS directly? They won't tell me anything about my dad's calculations without my mom present on the call which is SO frustrating!!!!

Based on what you've described, your stepfather's Social Security benefit was almost certainly reduced by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) due to his postal pension. Since your mother is receiving survivor benefits based on his record, those benefits would reflect the WEP reduction that was applied to his benefit. The Social Security Fairness Act would eliminate this reduction, which means your mother's widow benefit would likely increase once the legislation is implemented. However, the timing and specific implementation details are still being worked out. If this legislation passes, SSA would recalculate benefits for affected individuals like your mother, potentially resulting in higher monthly payments and possibly some retroactive adjustments. I recommend she contact SSA to confirm her specific situation and ensure her contact information is current so she'll receive any notifications about these changes.

I tried calling social security last week about this exact same issue for my aunt (my uncle was also federal employee who died) and couldn't get through after trying for 3 days straight. finally used a service called Claimyr and got through in 20 minutes. they get you past the hold times somehow. website is claimyr.com or they have a video showing how it works https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU - worth it to get a straight answer instead of guessing about what might happen with this new law.

my dad was post office too and mom got reduced benefits. they told us its cuz of something called 'government pension offset' not WEP. WEP affects your own benefits but GPO affects spouse/survivor benefits. so ur moms case is prob GPO. fairness act gets rid of both tho so doesn't matter which one

I hope you don't mind me sharing my experience. My husband was a firefighter for 30 years with a state pension. When he passed in 2022, I was shocked to discover my widow benefits were reduced to almost nothing because of GPO. I was counting on that Social Security to supplement my small teacher's pension. I've been following the Fairness Act closely and it would be life-changing for me. Your mom should definitely check if GPO is affecting her - even if she's not receiving his pension directly, sometimes survivor pensions are affected too. The calculations are incredibly complicated and most SSA reps I've spoken with have trouble explaining them clearly. It took me multiple calls to understand my own situation.

my neighbor says the fairness act isnt even going to pass, its been introduced like 20 times over the years and never gets anywhere. dont get your hopes up too much.

One important point that hasn't been mentioned: If your mother was married to your stepfather for at least 10 years and hasn't remarried before age 60, she should be eligible for survivor benefits based on his record. The survivor benefit would be 100% of what he was receiving (including any WEP reduction) if she waited until her full retirement age to claim it. If she's currently receiving her own reduced retirement benefit (from claiming at 62) plus a reduced survivor benefit, the Social Security Fairness Act could increase her monthly payment by eliminating the WEP reduction that was applied to your stepfather's benefit. When the legislation takes effect, SSA would recalculate benefits for affected individuals automatically, but it's always good to stay informed about your specific situation.

btw my uncle retired from post office too and we just found out the FERS supplement stops at 62 even tho regular ss doesn't start til later for most people. does ur mom know if he was getting the supplement? that might explain the low ss amount instead of WEP