Social Security Makes a Major Change for Widows and Divorced Spouses That Could Earn Them Thousands More

For many retirees, Social Security benefits for seniors are a critical source of income. Unfortunately, under long-standing Social Security rules, some retirees were denied benefits that they'd earned based on their work history. Their spouses were also denied spousal or survivor benefits.

This happened because of two federal rules: The Government Pension Offset (GPO) and the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). Both of these laws limited the Social Security benefits paid to public service workers who worked at jobs where they paid no Social Security taxes but earned a pension instead. Even if those public service workers subsequently held other jobs that should entitle them to Social Security benefits.

However, the Social Security Fairness Act eliminated both the GPO and the WEP, opening the door to many public service workers collecting benefits they'd once been denied.

Keep reading to understand what this means for those who can collect survivor and spousal benefits. In some cases, they may do this even after they have already divorced their ex-spouse whose work record benefits are based on.

How did the WEP and the GPO work?

Most employees pay Social Security taxes, earn work credits, and become eligible for Social Security based on their past work history.

However, some workers, including teachers, firefighters, police officers, and some federal employees, didn't pay Social Security taxes at their public service job. Typically, this was because they were participating in another retirement system, such as the Civil Service Retirement System or a defined benefit pension plan (with guaranteed lifetime income) offered by an employer.

Those workers sometimes went on to other jobs that did entitle them to receive Social Security benefits.

The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) could reduce a worker's Social Security retirement or disability benefit if they also received a pension from noncovered work. The Government Pension Offset (GPO), meanwhile, could reduce or eliminate spousal or survivor benefits for people who received their own pension from government work that wasn't covered by Social Security.

Specifically, the GPO applied to spousal or widow(er) benefits, whereas the WEP adjusted benefits for retired or disabled workers whose retirement benefits were offset because of their pension.

The Social Security Fairness Act changed the rules

The Social Security Fairness Act changed the rules. It was signed into law on January 5, 2025, and it repealed both the WEP and the GPO.

The change took effect on January 1, 2024, but the law was not enacted until January 5, 2025. This means it applied retroactively. The repeal applies to benefits payable for January 2024 and later, making the change retroactive. That means people whose retirement or disability benefits had been reduced by WEP, or whose spousal or survivor benefits had been reduced by GPO, became eligible to have those reductions removed.

Since the change applied retroactively, eligible retirees were entitled to back pay from January 2024 through the months before the updated payments began. And those retirees are going to continue to collect the larger benefit going forward.

Current and former spouses have already received millions

The change to the law resulted in many retirees receiving substantially increased benefits. Specifically, as of July 7, 2025, the SSA had already sent more than 3.1 million extra payments to eligible beneficiaries totaling $17 billion in benefits.

This included both the public service workers whose pensions had resulted in benefit offsets, as well as spouses of those workers newly entitled to larger spousal or survivor benefits.

What should you do if you are entitled to extra spousal or survivor benefits?

In most cases, you do not have to do anything if you are already receiving spousal or survivor benefits, but they had simply been reduced in the past as a result of the GPO. As long as Social Security has your correct mailing address or direct deposit on file, you'll get the extra benefits automatically.

However, if you don't know whether you applied for your spousal or survivor benefits, you may need to complete an application. Likewise, if you believe your benefits should have increased because of the repeal but they didn't, you should also reach out to Social Security to find out why.

You are eligible to apply online for spousal benefits, but not for survivor benefits, so you'll need to call 1-800-772-1213 Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time or set up an appointment at your local Social Security office.

Maximizing your monthly Social Security benefits

Making sure you get your extra benefits under the Social Security Fairness Act is important. To do this:

• Make sure you understand whether you are eligible for spousal or survivor benefits. You should be eligible to claim these benefits if you're still married, or if you've divorced after 10 years of marriage and didn't remarry at all (for spousal benefits) or remarry before either age 60 or age 50 if you're disabled (for survivor benefits).
• Avoid claiming your benefits before full retirement age, as claiming spousal or survivor benefits before your full retirement age could shrink the amount you collect.

Understanding the rules and keeping abreast of rule changes helps you ensure you don't leave money on the table.

Bottom line

The Social Security Fairness Act has had a major impact on many widows and divorced spouses, as well as on public service workers and their current spouses. It's important to make sure that you're getting the extra benefits you're due if you were affected.

Failing to do so is one of the biggest financial mistakes you could make, so reach out to the Social Security Administration today if you suspect you may not be getting all the money you should in your Social Security checks.

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