Hi Larry,
We have been doing some planning and came across your fantastic software and website (I wish we found it sooner!). We were thrown for a loop by a confusing conversation with the soc sec office, relative to maximum family benefits. My father passed away in 2004 (age 52). My disabled adult sibling receives DAC benefit (approx $2k/mo) on our father's record/acct. My mother is 68 and plans to continue to work for the next 5 or so years. Mom's projected retirement benefit at 70 would be less than her widow benefit now, and so we assumed this would be as simple as getting the widow benefit going now, into the future, since she is past full retirement age for widow benefit. But, the soc sec office said that the family max benefit could potentially decrease mom's projected widow benefit (of $2700/mo) and potentially decrease the DAC benefit for my sibling, though they could not say for certain until the application for widow benefits was finalized and submitted. Seems odd--maybe we got "the new guy" over there. In any event, I've read the guidelines and am getting confused as to whether (1) the family max benefit would apply, assuming mom and DAC sibling are only beneficiaries on father's account and (2) if so, how I calculate the max fam benefit (based on the year of father's death?) so we can weigh best options to maximize benefits to mom and sibling if the cap would apply.
We sincerely appreciate your insights!
Sincerely,
Very Confused in Phoenix

Hi,

I'll start out by telling you that our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) can handle all of the computations required to determine the best strategy for maximizing your mother's and brother's benefits, so you should strongly consider using the software make sure that you choose the best option.

It is possible for the family maximum benefit (FMB) to result in reduced benefit rates when a widow and disabled adult child are the only beneficiaries eligible for survivor benefits, but not always. The FMB based on a deceased worker's earnings history can range from a minimum of 150% of the worker's primary insurance amount (PIA) to a maximum of 187%. Your mother's unreduced widow's rate would be calculated based on 100% of your father's PIA, and your brother's unreduced benefit rate would be calculated at 75% of your father's PIA. Therefore, your mother's and brother's benefit rates won't be reduced as long as the FMB on your father's account is at least 175% of his PIA. I can't say for sure, but I would guess that it is based on the benefit rates cited in your question.

Trying to calculate your father's PIA and FMB on your own would be extremely complex (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0300605021), but Social Security should be able to give your mother those amounts upon request.

Suffice to say that it definitely sounds like your mother should file for widow's benefits without further delay, and she should elect the maximum retroactivity of 6 months prior to her month of application. Widow's rates don't get any higher if you wait past full retirement age (FRA) to claim them, and since your mother is well past FRA she has apparently already lost a significant amount of benefits by not filing sooner.

In the unlikely event that the FMB on your father's record is less 175% of his PIA, then your mother could file for her own Social Security retirement benefits in addition to filing for widow's benefits. That would probably allow her FMB to be combined with your father's FMB, which would definitely allow your mother and brother to be paid their full rates. If your mother files for both her own benefits and for widow's benefits, and if her own benefit rate is lower than her widow's rate, then what she'd be paid is a combination of the 2 benefits that would add up to the higher widow's rate.

Your mother probably wouldn't want to claim her own benefits now, though, if there's any chance that her own rate to grow to more than her widow's rate through a combination of additional delayed retirement credits (DRC) and future earnings. I don't know how likely that might be in your mother's case, but our software could take all of the guesswork out of the equation and determine her optimal strategy.

Best, Jerry