SSR 84-20a: SECTION 202(c) (42 U.S.C. 402(c) HUSBAND'S INSURANCE BENEFITS -- GOVERNMENT PENSION OFFSET -- ONE-HALF SUPPORT -- POOLED INCOME

20 CFR 404.408a

SSR 84-20a

The issue before the Appeals Council (AC) was whether the claimant's

husband's insurance benefits were subject to reduction because of his

receipt of a government pension.

In April 1980, the claimant's wife became entitled to OAIB and the

claimant became entitled to husband's insurance benefits on her earnings

record. When SSA determined that the claimant's husband's insurance

benefits were subject to offset by the amount of his monthly Federal

government pension, the claimant appealed.

Section 202(c) of the Act provides for the payment of husband's insurance

benefits if certain requirements are met.

Section 404.408(a) of Regulations No. 4 provides, in pertinent part, that

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An administrative law judge (ALJ) decided that the claimant's husband's

insurance benefits were not subject to offset. The ALJ noted that the

claimant had received his government pension for one or more months during

the period December 1977 through November 1982. The ALJ also found that

the claimant met the requirements for husband's insurance benefits that

were applied in January 1977, including the subsequently repealed

requirement that he had been receiving at least one-half of his support

from his wife when she became entitled to OAIB. As a result of these

findings, the ALJ concluded that the exception to offset in § 404.408a(b)

of Regulations No. 4 was applicable to the claimant.

t the requirements for husband's insurance benefits that

were applied in January 1977, including the subsequently repealed

requirement that he had been receiving at least one-half of his support

from his wife when she became entitled to OAIB. As a result of these

findings, the ALJ concluded that the exception to offset in § 404.408a(b)

of Regulations No. 4 was applicable to the claimant.

The AC did not agree with the ALJ's decision. At the time of his wife's

entitlement to OAIB, the claimant's income was $886.94 a month and his

wife's income was $1,700 a month. The claimant and his wife shared equally

in the total family income ($2,586.94 a month), which was used (i.e.,

pooled) for their living expenses. Accordingly, the cost of the claimant's

support was one-half of the total family income ($1,293.47 a month). Since

the claimant's own income of $886.94 a month was greater than one-half of

his support from his wife at the time she became entitled to OAIB.

Therefore, since the one-half support requirement was not met, the

exception to offset in § 404.408a(b) of Regulations No. 4 was not

applicable. Consequently, in reversing the ALJ's decision, the AC

concluded that the claimant's husband's insurance benefits were subject to

government pension offset.