I am 71 years old and have been collecting retirement benefits since I was 70. My (unmarried) partner is 61, a teacher, and belongs to the State's retirement system. Her anticipated retirement benefit is greater than what she would receive from Social Security, and greater than 50% of my retirement benefit. If we were to get married, can she collect spousal benefits on my earnings? If so, would she have to repay them when she starts collecting her retirement?

Hi. Your new wife could potentially qualify for spousal benefits if you marry, but she'd need to be at least age 62 and she probably couldn't qualify until your marriage has lasted for at least a year. Alternatives to the one year marriage duration requirement are explained in the following section of Social Security's handbook: https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.03/handbook-0305.html. But, if your wife claims benefits prior to her full retirement age (FRA), her benefits could be fully or partially withheld if she works and earns too much (https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/whileworking.html).

If your wife is receiving a pension based on her state government earnings that were exempt from Social Security taxes, her spousal benefits would almost certainly be offset by 2/3rds of the amount of her state pension (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10007.pdf). That could reduce her spousal rate to zero. The offset wouldn't apply unless and until your wife starts drawing the state pension, though. Your new wife wouldn't have to pay back any spousal benefits that she collected prior to when she starts drawing her state pension.

If your partner has enough Social Security credits to qualify for Social Security retirement benefits, she could qualify for those benefits even if she's drawing a state pension. There is a Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) that would likely reduce the amount of her Social Security retirement benefit, but WEP never reduces a person's benefit rate to zero (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10045.pdf).

Our software is programmed to handle computations involving both the WEP and GPO (i.e. Government Pension Offset) provisions, as well as Social Security's earnings test. It sounds like your partner should strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully compare and analyze all of her various options so that she can determine her best strategy for maximizing her benefits.

Best, Jerry