Considering that same-sex marriage has been the law of the land for just a short time it was a bit unclear how this new right would impact those who collect Social Security benefits. It is a fact that Social Security will now be applying the same rules for those who are in traditional marriages and those who are in same-sex marriages. Overall, most same-sex couples should expect to see added options for Social Security benefits that are likely to increase benefit amounts, but that is not the case for married same-sex couples who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
Because SSI is a needs-based program there are strict income requirements for married couples. For instance, the SSI maximum benefit amount for an individual is $733, but married couples who both receive SSI can only receive a total of $1,100 per month, which is $367 less every month than two individuals receiving SSI. There are married same-sex couples who have been both receiving SSI and both receiving the maximum individual monthly amount of $733 because Social Security did not legally recognize these individuals as being married under federal law.
Moving forward, all married couples who both receive SSI will be limited to the married couple amount of $1,100 per month.
If Social Security follows normal procedure it would mean that married same-sex couples who were each receiving $733 a month were overpaid by Social Security as of the date of the marriage. If anyone has ever received an overpayment notice from Social Security it can be a scary proposition. Anytime the federal government is requesting you payback money it is alarming.
The good news is Social Security seems to be out front on this issue. The agency has already issued a message about how these potential overpayments should be handled. Social Security will assume that anyone who has been overpaid from the time period of their marriage until the present would wish to request a waiver on the overpayment. Anytime Social Security pays someone more than they should there is the option for the person to request a waiver so they do not have to pay for the overpayment. It is left up to Social Security’s discretion as to whether a waiver will be accepted and the overpayment will be forgiven.
Fortunately in the matter where same-sex married couples were overpaid, because same-sex marriage was not officially recognized by the federal government until recently, Social Security is expected to grant all waivers for these situations and an official waiver will not have to be requested.
This should come as somewhat of a relief for anyone who has received overpayment notices, but moving forward Social Security’s rules related to the maximum of $1,100 per married couple for SSI benefits will stand.
There is another aspect that could possibly impact same-sex married couples that previously had not. Because SSI is a needs-based program total marital household income is considered as a basis for eligibility. Some same-sex couples, prior to their marriages being recognized federally, were not considered to have marital incomes and SSI payments were reduced less than that of what a traditional married couple faced. The good news is these people will not be forced to payback money they received as part of overpayments, but it appears that all same-sex married couples will be forced with less income in the future. To learn more about how Social Security intends to handle this overpayment issue click here.
