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Impact of Remarriage and GPO on Survivor Benefits

government pension offset (gpo) hey marc! survivor benefit widow benefit windfall elimination provision (wep) Jan 26, 2024

Can you clarify for me. 65 female is drawing survivor benefit from her deceased husband. She remarried after age 60 to a man that has non covered pension and when he retired he included survivor benefit for her on his pension. Will GPO apply to her current survivor benefit from deceased husband or her own work history which will be greater at age 70 if her current husband passes away?

In this scenario, since the woman did not work for the government, she is not subject to the Government Pension Offset (GPO) or the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). This means that her current survivor benefit from her deceased husband will not be affected by her remarriage to a man who receives a non-covered pension with a survivor benefit.

If her current husband passes away and she is eligible for a survivor benefit from his pension, GPO would only apply if she had worked for the government in a job where Social Security taxes were not paid. Since that is not the case, her future Social Security benefits, whether based on her own work history or her deceased husband's record, should not be reduced by GPO.

She can continue to receive her current survivor benefits without concern for GPO impacting those benefits or her own Social Security benefits at age 70.

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