Wedding season is upon us for the citizens of the United States. During these months it is common for engaged couples to say “I do” to officially become a family. If you are getting married soon and are collecting a Social Security benefit, you should be careful about taking this step. It does not matter whether you are collecting a Social Security retirement benefit, a disability benefit, or a Supplemental Security Income benefit. In any of the above cases, you must report that you are married.
And not only must you report that your situation has changed in that style. You must also report any address or name changes. It is important that you never forget to do this. It is the best way to avoid problems with Social Security . Any such change can result in a change in your Social Security benefit, so you should never forget to do this.
The biggest change is a benefit to you, so it is important that you notify Social Security. In any case, below we will look at the most important cases to notify and what the penalties and consequences are for not reporting changes to the Social Security Administration.
Changes to report to Social Security
You must report any changes in your life with respect to housing, marital status or name to the Social Security Administration. It is very important to know that you have 10 days from the end of the month in which the change occurred to inform the Administration. These 10 days are enough, but we must not forget to do it.
If you made the changes at the beginning of the month, you will have more time to send these changes. But the 10 days offered by the Social Security Administration to report the changes are enough time to do it without rushing. Otherwise, you may lose your Social Security benefit, so be careful.
What penalties can I expect from Social Security?
One of the penalties for not reporting your Social Security changes is to return the corresponding payments since the change. These payments would only apply from the month you got married or changed your address. If you, for example, got married in the month of May and did not report your change of status, in September you may receive a notice. Then you must repay the benefit for the months of May, June, July and August. This can be very inconvenient.
You will also lose future payments if you do not inform Social Security. Disability or retirement benefits may also have a penalty in this regard. This can be a penalty of between 12 and 24 months without collecting the benefit if you fail to report the changes made.
Does reporting changes have a negative effect?
In most cases, notification of a change of address or marital status is not adversely affected. In many cases, there will be no change in your Social Security benefits after you get married or divorced. If you are collecting your own disability benefits, you will continue to do so for the same amount. Collecting spousal benefits and getting divorced do not matter. You will continue to collect those benefits if you are over age 62, unless you have been married less than 10 years.
If you are collecting disabled widow’s benefits and remarry at age 50 or older, your benefits will continue without any problem. So there is no reason not to report these changes.