Parents Social Security payments, deceased Father.

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myford.m.lseven
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Parents Social Security payments, deceased Father.

Post by myford.m.lseven »

Hey Bogleheads,

I'm wondering if someone can help me figure out how to get to the bottom of this. My Father died about 3 years ago and being unprepared it was a bit chaotic with his finances, social security etc. Bottom line is my Mom now gets a SS check monthly for 1687. She worked part time for my father who was a doctor.

As I understand it she is entitled to his SS payment as a survivorship benefit but I can't tell if 1687 is what he would have gotten, or if it is calculated from her income over the years. When I calculate my own SS it is more than 1687 which makes me wonder if switching to his survivorship benefit was overlooked in the chaos of his death.

1.) Is there a way I can figure out what he would be getting from SS if he were still alive? Will the SS administration give me this kind of information?
2.) Am I correct that my Mother should be getting the equivalent of his benefit? (she is 81).

Thanks in advance,

ML7
Gill
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Re: Parents Social Security payments, deceased Father.

Post by Gill »

The answer seems simple; Ask Social Security.
Gill
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arcticpineapplecorp.
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Re: Parents Social Security payments, deceased Father.

Post by arcticpineapplecorp. »

Yes you are correct that she should get the higher of the two. If her husband received a higher SS payment then she should be receiving his payment, not her own potentially lower payment.

SS will definitely give the information to her. They will tell her what's the better benefit for her to receive. Call Social Security and find out.
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ThePrune
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Re: Parents Social Security payments, deceased Father.

Post by ThePrune »

myford.m.lseven wrote:As I understand it she is entitled to his SS payment as a survivorship benefit ....
Although it typically works out that the lower-earning survivor ends up getting exactly the same benefit that the deceased spouse was receiving, there are exceptions.

For those who want to explore this topic in excruciating detail, refer to this section of the Social Security Program Operations Manual System: RS00615.322 – Worksheet for Computation of WIB After 12/72. Some of the acronyms will be confusing, so here are what they mean:

RIB – Retirement Insurance Benefit (i.e. worker’s benefit)
FRA = Full Retirement Age
PIA = Primary Insurance Amount (RIB if claimed at at FRA)
WIB – Widow(er) Insurance Benefit (i.e. survivor benefit)
DNH – Deceased Number Holder (i.e. the deceased worker)
MBA – Monthly Benefit Amount (actual amount received by worker, either reduced or increased from the PIA)
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delamer
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Re: Parents Social Security payments, deceased Father.

Post by delamer »

Was your father collecting Social Security when he died? If so, there would have been direct deposit amounts in a checking or savings account. Maybe you have old paper statements or online records showing the amount.

Assuming you father stopped working about 20 years ago, the $1687 could be the survivor benefit.
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JW-Retired
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Re: Parents Social Security payments, deceased Father.

Post by JW-Retired »

myford.m.lseven wrote: My Father died about 3 years ago and being unprepared it was a bit chaotic with his finances, social security etc. Bottom line is my Mom now gets a SS check monthly for 1687. She worked part time for my father who was a doctor.

As I understand it she is entitled to his SS payment as a survivorship benefit but I can't tell if 1687 is what he would have gotten, .........
1687 can't be your mom's spousal benefit since that would be half your father's PIA (age 66 amount), and could not be more than about $1300. On the other hand, 1687 seems really low for a doctor's wages. But it's certainly possible if he had a short career and took SS early at 62.

The other thing is "her check" is going to have medicare premiums and maybe taxes withheld from it. So you & your mother just have to call SS and see what's really going on.
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BL
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Re: Parents Social Security payments, deceased Father.

Post by BL »

Look at the 1099 she got from SSA in January (it should be with her tax paperwork). That should tell you what her basic SS is, and deductions for Medicare and perhaps taxes.

Agree that she should also talk with SS folks.
invst65
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Re: Parents Social Security payments, deceased Father.

Post by invst65 »

JW-Retired wrote:On the other hand, 1687 seems really low for a doctor's wages.
That was also what I thought. This is around the same amount my mother gets and my Dad was a milkman who never paid in anything close to the maximum amount.
ww340
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Re: Parents Social Security payments, deceased Father.

Post by ww340 »

Help her create an online SSA account and she can see what benefits she is receiving.

Here is the link.
https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount/
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