Will spouse's Social Security survivor benefits be reduced by WEP after I die?
I retired from public education after 27 years and currently receive my teacher's pension of $4,250/month. I also qualify for Social Security benefits that are reduced by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP), so instead of getting about $1,850/month, I only receive around $1,070/month. I've arranged my teacher's pension so my wife will receive 100% continuation of my pension if I die before her. My question is about Social Security survivor benefits: When I pass away, will my wife's Social Security survivor benefits be the WEP-reduced amount I'm currently receiving, or will she get the full unreduced Social Security benefit? Does WEP disappear for survivor benefits or does it continue to reduce what my spouse can collect? Our financial advisor gave us conflicting information recently and now I'm confused about our long-term planning.
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Omar Farouk
The WEP stops when you die! Your wife will get the FULL amount of Social Security that you would have been entitled to without the WEP reduction. That's one of the few good things about this unfair provision that punishes public servants. Make sure your wife knows this because the SSA doesn't always explain this clearly.
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Freya Andersen
•Thank you for this information! That's a huge relief. So to confirm, even though I'm only getting $1,070 now, my wife would get the full $1,850 survivor benefit (plus COLA increases) along with my teacher's pension continuation? That makes a significant difference in our planning.
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CosmicCadet
Good question about WEP and survivor benefits. The other commenter is partially correct, but there's some nuance here you should understand. While WEP does go away for survivor benefits, Government Pension Offset (GPO) might still affect your spouse if she has her own government pension. Also, the survivor benefit would be subject to the regular Social Security rules - she'd receive either her own Social Security benefit OR your full (non-WEP) benefit, whichever is higher, not both. Has your wife worked enough to qualify for her own Social Security benefit?
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Freya Andersen
•Yes, my wife worked in the private sector her entire career. She qualifies for her own Social Security benefit of about $1,520/month at her full retirement age. So if I understand correctly, when I pass, she would get her choice of either her own $1,520 benefit OR my full non-WEP benefit of approximately $1,850 (whichever is higher), plus she'd continue receiving my teacher's pension. Is that right?
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Chloe Harris
my husband was a firefighter, got hit with WEP too. such garbage!!! we worked hard our whole lives and they take away benefits we earned. when I call SSA they just give me the runaround about it. now i'm worried about what happens when he dies.
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CosmicCadet
•I understand your frustration with WEP. When your husband passes, you would receive his full, non-WEP reduced Social Security benefit as a survivor benefit (assuming it's higher than your own). The WEP reduction only applies to the worker while they're alive, not to survivors. But definitely keep good records of what his non-WEP benefit would have been.
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Diego Mendoza
Anyone here successfully challenge their WEP reduction? I heard some people got exemptions based on substantial earnings in non-government jobs.
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Anastasia Popova
•Yes, the WEP reduction is lessened if you have 21+ years of substantial earnings in jobs where you paid into Social Security. At 30+ years of substantial earnings, the WEP doesn't apply at all. For 2023, "substantial earnings" means you made at least $28,050 in Social Security-covered employment. The threshold changes each year. Worth checking if some of your work history might qualify for this exception.
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Sean Flanagan
Actually I just went through this when my husband passed last year. He was a retired county employee affected by WEP. When I applied for survivor benefits, I was pleasantly surprised that I received the FULL amount - no WEP reduction. The claims specialist explained that WEP only affects the worker's own benefits, not their survivors. But be aware there's a lot of confusion about this, even among some SSA employees! I had to kindly ask them to check their own policy manual when they initially tried to apply WEP to my survivor benefit.
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Freya Andersen
•Thank you for sharing your real experience with this. It's reassuring to hear from someone who's actually been through the process. Did you have to provide any special documentation to show what your husband's benefit would have been without WEP?
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Sean Flanagan
No special documentation was needed. The SSA has all the earnings records in their system and can calculate what the non-WEP benefit would have been. But I did bring a copy of my husband's last Social Security statement that showed both amounts just in case. The whole process took about 45 minutes in the office, but I'd been trying to reach them by phone for weeks with no luck.
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Zara Shah
•I had the same issue trying to call SSA about my husband's benefits. After being on hold for hours and getting disconnected multiple times, I found a service called Claimyr that got me through to an agent in under 10 minutes. Saved me so much frustration! You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU or their website claimyr.com. Worth it when you need to actually speak to someone at SSA about these complicated issues.
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Freya Andersen
Thank you all for the incredibly helpful responses. This clarifies things tremendously. Just to make sure I have this straight: 1) WEP goes away for survivor benefits, so my wife would be eligible for my full non-WEP Social Security amount. 2) She would get either her own benefit OR my non-WEP benefit, whichever is higher. 3) This is in addition to the teacher's pension continuation I've arranged. This makes our financial future much more secure than I thought. Really appreciate everyone's insights!
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