MEMORANDUM
Date:
September 8, 2023
Refer To: 032313
To:
Gina Clemons
Deputy Commissioner
Office of Analytics, Review, and Oversight
From:
Michelle L. Anderson
Assistant Inspector General for Audit
Subject:
Benefits Paid to Spouses Who Do Not Have a Child In-care
We identified 1,111 spouses who were receiving Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance
benefits but did not appear to have a child in their care. These spouses may not have been
entitled to the benefits they were receiving.
1
In lieu of a report, we are issuing this memorandum to inform the Social Security Administration
(SSA) of these beneficiaries. We are not making a formal recommendation for corrective action;
the Agency can act in response to this information as it deems appropriate.
BACKGROUND
Spouses of retired, disabled, or deceased numberholders may be paid benefits under Title II of
the Social Security Act if they:
2
1. have a child beneficiary under age 16 over whom they exercise parental control and
responsibility;
2. have a mentally disabled child beneficiary age 16 or older over whom they exercise parental
control and responsibility;
3. have a physically disabled child beneficiary age 16 or older for whom they perform personal
services; or
1
For purposes of this memorandum, we use the term “spouses” to include beneficiaries receiving: wife’s insurance
benefits (42 U.S.C. § 402 (b)); husband’s insurance benefits (42 U.S.C. § 402 (c)); and mother’s and father’s
insurance benefits (42 U.S.C. § 402 (g)). This includes surviving spouses and surviving divorced spouses.
2
42 U.S.C. § 402 (b)(1)(B)(ii), (c)(1)(B)(ii), (g)(1)(E).
2 | Gina Clemons
September 8, 2023
4. have a physically disabled child beneficiary age 16 or older with secondary mental diagnosis
or documented mental impairments and over whom they exercise parental control and
responsibility.
3
A s
pouse’s entitlement to benefits ends the month before their child attains age 16 or is not
disabled.
4
If the child has a disability, the beneficiary can file a disability report. SSA staff will
then determine whether the child is disabled and the spouse meets the requirements to receive
benefits.
5
Each month, SSA’s Title II Redesign system
6
should automatically identify
beneficiaries who do not have a child in their care and suspend or terminate their benefits, as
appropriate.
7
SPOUSES WHO ARE POTENTIALLY NO LONGER ENTITLED TO BENEFITS
In March 2023, we identified 1,111 spouses who were receiving benefits but did not appear to
have a child in their care. For example, SSA continued paying benefits to two beneficiaries
even though their children were 22-years-old and not disabled. One child turned 16-years-old in
February 2017, and the other child turned 16 in July 2017. Although we did not complete a
detailed review of the two beneficiaries to calculate potential overpayments or determine why
SSA did not suspend their benefits, we believe SSA should have terminated their benefits in
January and June 2017, respectively. Therefore, SSA may have overpaid benefits to spouses
who were not entitled for longer than 5 years.
8
Our review of these two beneficiaries represents
the beneficiaries identified; there could be additional potential overpayments.
CONCLUSION
SSA’s review of these beneficiaries could lead to the suspension or termination of benefits and
potential assessment of overpayments paid to spouses who no longer have a child in their care.
Our staff can coordinate with your staff and provide information on these beneficiaries. If you
wish to discuss this memorandum, please call me or have your staff contact Shirley Todd,
Director, Program Audit Division 3.
3
SSA, POMS, RS 01310.001 (February 3, 2017).
4
42 U.S.C. § 402(b)(1), (c)(1), (g)(1); 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.332(b), 341(b); SSA, POMS, RS 00202.040 A (December 2,
2005); and SSA, POMS, RS 00208.030 A (August 7, 2018).
5
SSA, POMS, DI 11025.010 C and D (July 29, 2020) and SSA, POMS, RS 00202.095 B (April 26, 2011).
6
SSA's Title II Redesign is a combination of separate systems to provide a single system for processing Title II initial
claims and client initiated post-entitlement actions in an online interactive mode.
7
We did not conduct a review to determine whether the controls were working effectively.
8
SSA coded these beneficiaries as a young wife with a child in their care.
