My husband passed away a month ago. I have gone to Social Security twice to apply for survivors benefits. The first time I was told my daughter will get a check every month but if I go back to work and make more then $17000 I will get penalized $1 for every $2 I earn over. The woman at Social Security said maybe see if I can lower my hours to stay below the limit. I decided that I'd go back to work and just take the penalty. So, the next week I went back to Social Security to tell them that I was going to return to work and would be earning $32000. I got a different woman this time who told me that I was not entitled to any survivors benefits because I was making too much money. Even when she handed me a pamphlet explaining the penalty, she continued to tell me that I wasn't eligible for survivors benefits for myself. The pamphlet she gave me was about retirement social security but she said its the same rules as survivors benefits. I left Social Security confused because I didn't know who was right. On the way home from Social Security the second time, the woman who said I wouldn't get benefits called me and said that I would get some checks throughout the year. So, a week later I get a letter saying I owe them the money they paid me and wouldn't get any of the benefits for myself until the end of the year when they can see how much money I've earned. Side not: my husband was in the military and I spoke with a Social worker from TAPS ( A program that helps military widows and families) she said that no matter what I should receive the same amount of money each month. She said it's based off what my husband paid into Social Security. I'm so confused and am having trouble finding a lawyer to help me. I'm not trying to leach off the system, I just want was is owed to me. The difference in the amount of money I could receive each month is a lot, and it doesn't make sense to me. Thank you for reading this. Any advice is welcome.

Hi,

I'm sorry for your loss.

I don't have enough information to be able to give you advice, but maybe an example would help you understand what's happening:

Say that Sally is widowed at age 60, and files for survivor benefits in February 2018. Sally's husband's full retirement age rate (PIA) was $2000, but Sally monthly survivor rate is reduced to $1430 because she filed at age 60. If Sally wasn't working, she would receive the entire $1430 starting with month of filing (February 2018). As a result, for the year of 2018 Sally would be due a total of $15,730 in benefits (i.e. 11 x $1430).

However, Sally is working and will earn $32,000 in 2018. Due to the Social Security earnings test (https://www.ssa.gov/planners/retire/whileworking.html), Sally will lose $1 of her benefits for each $2 that her earnings exceed $17,040 in 2018. Therefore, Social Security would need to withhold $7,480 of Sally's 2018 benefits (i.e. ($32000 - $17040)/2). Social Security would do so by withholding Sally's full monthly payment for as many months as it takes to recover the necessary amount, which in Sally's case would be 5+ months. And since 5 months of benefits wouldn't cover the full amount needed, Social Security would withhold 6 months of Sally's benefits with the understanding that any excess withholding would be refunded at the end of the year.

In your case, the number of months of your benefits that Social Security would need to withhold would depend on your earnings estimate and your monthly benefit rate. If you're planning to earn $32,000 this year and your benefit rate is significantly lower than Sally's in the above example, then you may be due few if any benefits this year.

Your best filing strategy depends not only on your expected earnings, but also on the relative amounts of your widow's benefit rate and your own retirement benefit rate. You should strongly consider using our maximization software in order to determine your best overall strategy for claiming your benefits.

Best, Jerry