I am age 85. I have been receiving about $30,000 per year in social security for the past 20 years. My wife is age 81. She has been receiving about $7000 per year in social security for the past 16 years. I understand that she should have been receiving 50% of my annual payment based on the spouse's benefit. Is there any way that she can obtain a back payment for some or substantially all of what Social Security should have paid her? If so, what should she do?

Hi. It sounds like your wife may well qualify for spousal benefits, but it's not necessarily accurate to say that she should be receiving 50% of your annual payment amount. The relative amounts that each member of a couple can be paid depends on when they start drawing their benefits.

For example, let's say Bob, waited until age 70 to start drawing his Social Security retirement benefits. Bob's primary insurance amount (PIA), which is the monthly amount he'd be getting if he'd taken his benefits at full retirement age (FRA), is $1894. However, since Bob waited until age 70 to start drawing his benefits his monthly benefit rate is 32% higher than his PIA, or $2500.

Bob's wife, on the other hand, started drawing her Social Security retirement benefits at age 62. Her PIA is $900, but she receives a reduced monthly rate of $675. Bob's wife is also eligible for a small excess spousal benefit, which is calculated by subtracting her PIA from 50% of Bob's PIA. That amounts to $47 (i.e. $1894/2 - $900) in our example, but since she started drawing her benefits at age 62 her excess spousal rate is reduced for age to $33. That amount is then paid in addition to Bob's wife's own reduced rate of $675 to give her a combined rate of $708 (i.e. $675 + $33).

So, even though Bob's wife is eligible for a small spousal benefit in our example above, her total monthly rate of $708 is much less than 50% of Bob's monthly rate of $2500. The reason it's so much less is because she started drawing at a reduced rate when she was 62, while Bob waited until age 70 to start drawing his benefits.

If your wife does in fact qualify for spousal benefits, the only way that she might now be able to claim benefits retroactively for more than 6 months from the month that she files a claim for spousal benefits would be if there's an open application (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0200204025) or a protective filing date (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0200204010) involved. For example, if your wife was eligible for spousal benefits when you applied for your benefits and if you listed her on your application, that would have established a protective filing date for her. Unless Social Security closes out a protective filing date with a written notice, it can potentially then be used to later establish retroactive entitlement to benefits.

I have no way of knowing whether or not your wife does in fact qualify for spousal benefits, nor whether or not there may be something in Social Security's records that would allow her to claim benefits retroactively for more than 6 months. However, it sounds like she should probably contact Social Security ASAP to see about filing for spousal benefits in order to prevent any potential additional loss of benefits.

Best, Jerry