Foreign Spouse (UK) has the Gov't Pension Offset (GPO) applied to her UK teacher's pension - is this correct?

In your Forbes.com 'Social Security Q&A' column of Aug. 3, 2014, you addressed the question, "Are My Foreign Spouse and I in Danger of Double Dipping?" in regard to receiving U.S. Social Security spousal benefits while receiving a UK pension. According to your expert, Jerry Lutz, “Foreign pensions are not considered ‘government’ pensions for purposes of the government pension offset provision.”

My wife, 64, is a UK national/US permanent resident, who worked for 15 years as a teacher in the UK and receives a small teacher's pension. I have been retired for one year, have just reached FRA, and have applied for Social Security. My wife - who has never worked in the U.S. - is eligible and applied for a Spousal Benefit. On the application it asked about foreign employment and she dutifully gave the details of her UK teacher's pension. She has now been informed that the GPO will be applied to her spousal pension, which will be reduced by 2/3s of her teacher's pension - is this correct in this case?

Hi,

No, it certainly appears that Social Security has made an error in your case. You should re-contact them and point out section B of POMS GN 02608.400 (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0202608400), which is a reference from the Social Security program operations manual. As you can see from reading section B of this reference, foreign pensions are specifically excluded from the Government Pension Offset (GPO) provision.

If Social Security does not acknowledge and correct the error in a timely manner, you can file a formal appeal. The first step of appeal is called reconsideration, and must be requested within 60 days of the notice informing your wife of the GPO offset.

Best, Jerry