Social Security Fairness Act and Foreign Pensions

Before the repeal, American expats who qualified for both a foreign state pension and US Social Security saw their Social Security benefits reduced — sometimes to zero — under two provisions called the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). When a spouse or retiree with a French pension died, the surviving family's Social Security situation could be devastating: survivor benefits were zeroed out entirely in many cases.

That changed on January 5, 2025, when the Social Security Fairness Act (H.R. 82) was signed into law, completely repealing both WEP and GPO.

What the Repeal Means for Survivor Benefits

WEP and GPO no longer exist. A French state pension (or any other "non-covered pension" in SSA terminology) can no longer reduce or eliminate a US Social Security retirement, spousal, or survivor benefit. This is retroactive to benefits payable from January 2024 onward.

For families navigating the death of an American citizen in France — especially when the deceased or their surviving spouse held a French pension — this changes the financial picture substantially.

Two Paths Depending on Prior Benefit Status

Path A: Already Receiving Reduced Benefits. If the deceased or the surviving spouse was already receiving US Social Security benefits that were being reduced by WEP or GPO, the SSA applied an automated adjustment. A retroactive lump-sum payment covering all withheld amounts back to January 2024 was deposited directly into the beneficiary's bank account. The SSA completed this automated cycle by July 2025.

If you're settling an estate, audit the deceased's final bank statements and SSA records to confirm this retroactive payment was correctly calculated and deposited. Errors in the automated adjustment are possible, especially for complex cross-border situations where the SSA's records of the foreign pension amount may have been incomplete.

Path B: Never Applied Because the Offset Would Have Zeroed the Benefit. Thousands of surviving spouses never filed for Social Security spousal or survivor benefits because the GPO would have reduced their benefit to zero. Filing would have been pointless.

The SSA does not automatically enroll these "never-applicants." To claim the newly unlocked benefits, the surviving spouse must proactively file a new application. And here's the critical detail: survivor benefit applications cannot be filed online. The surviving spouse must call the SSA directly at 1-800-772-1213 to initiate the application by phone.

Standard SSA retroactivity rules apply: retroactive payments for newly filed survivor claims are limited to a maximum of six months prior to the application filing month. Delaying the filing can reduce the period for which retroactive benefits are payable, so filing promptly matters.

State Pension Offsets Are Separate and Still Active

The Social Security Fairness Act repealed the federal WEP and GPO. It did not touch plan-level offsets maintained by individual US state and local public pension systems.

Some state retirement plans (CalPERS in California, OPERS in Ohio, TRS in Texas, and similar systems) have their own internal offset mechanisms that reduce state pension payouts when a beneficiary also receives Social Security or foreign pension income. These state-level, plan-specific reductions are written into state statutes or employer bargaining agreements and were not affected by H.R. 82.

This distinction matters for estate settlement. An executor reviewing the deceased's retirement income streams must evaluate the state pension plan's own rules separately from the federal WEP/GPO analysis. A surviving spouse whose federal Social Security benefit is now fully restored might still see a state pension reduction based on receipt of that very Social Security payment — depending on the specific plan design.

Notifying the SSA After a Death Abroad

When an American citizen dies overseas, the surviving family must notify the Social Security Administration of the death. This serves two purposes: stopping any continuing benefit payments to the deceased, and initiating the surviving spouse's eligibility for survivor benefits.

The SSA can be reached at 1-800-772-1213 (TTY: 1-800-325-0778). The notification requires the deceased's Social Security number, date of death, and the Consular Report of Death Abroad (e-CRODA) when available.

The American Dies in France — Family Emergency Guide includes an SSA benefits preparation worksheet, the post-repeal filing checklist, and a decision tree for distinguishing federal WEP/GPO (repealed) from state-level plan offsets (still active).