I’m a retired school teacher with a $2,700 monthly state pension. At my full retirement SSA age of 66, I requested a spousal benefit from ex husbands account. I qualified for one but told it was $0 because of GPO.
Question. When my ex husband dies will I qualify for 100% of his PIA? With the 100% instead of 50%, the GPO should result in a benefit greater than $0.
Will I need to request the benefit or will it be paid automatically?

Hi. If your ex-husband dies you could potentially qualify for an unreduced survivor benefit equal to the amount he was receiving when he died, plus any subsequent cost of living increases. If that amounts to more than 2/3rds of the gross amount of your teacher's pension then you should be able to collect at least some survivor benefits.

If you've already applied for and been approved for divorced spousal benefits, even if your benefit rate is reduced to zero due to the Government Pension Offset (GPO) provision, then you shouldn't need to reapply in order to be paid any survivor benefits that you qualify for in the event of your ex's death. However, Social Security will likely need to verify the amount of your teacher's pension so that they can calculate the correct benefit amount before starting your payments. So, if you become aware that your ex-spouse is died you should contact Social Security to see what evidence they need.

Best, Jerry