The info i need is concern over a surviving spouse (wife) who is on WEP. The social security bearing spouse (husband) is not affected by her WEP. Presently, the wife is not entitled to spousal survival benefits because of WEP status.

What happens to the wife as surviving spouse upon the husband's demise? Will she be entitled to any social security benefits?

Thank you

Hi,

It sounds like you might be confusing WEP with GPO. WEP (Windfall Elimination Provision) only affects benefits payable on a person's own Social Security record, whereas GPO (Government Pension Offset) can affect spousal and widow's benefits (https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10007.pdf).

If the wife you are referring to receives a government pension based on her own work that was exempt from Social Security taxes, then she would likely only be able to receive widow's benefits if 2/3rds of the amount of her government pension is less than her widow's rate.

Best, Jerry