Correcting Social Security Records

A reader from Colorado asks about fixing gaps in her Social Security record.

"I was shocked to find my ex-husband did not file Social Security contributions on my behalf for several years. I just discovered that I have gaps in my Social Security contributions and want to know if there is anything I can do about it. I'm planning to retire next year."

There could be various explanations related to this, although we're a little short of detail. I'll do my best to add some value.

First, we recently mentioned that when you have errors in your earnings record, Social Security technically gives you three years, three months and fifteen days from that year where earnings were not included or misreported. You have that long to get it corrected officially. However, there are many reasons why they will still fix it beyond that period. So it's possible you can get this corrected, but you'll need some evidence.

The first sentence of your statement confuses me because a taxpayer does not typically report Social Security contributions. If you believe you have missing numbers in your Social Security earnings record simply because your husband didn't do something on your taxes, that's not how it works. Only self-employed individuals would do so through tax filings. However, you didn't say outright that you were self-employed. Instead, you blamed it on your husband for not filing your contributions, so I'm unclear about what's happening there.

A different process is followed if you work for a company, even a small one. In that case, the company (your employer) withholds your half of the Social Security taxes from your paycheck, contributes its half of the Social Security payroll tax obligation, and automatically sends that all in for you. That's how that's supposed to happen.

It's possible that your ex-spouse was your employer, you thought he was reporting your contributions, and you're saying that process wasn't followed.

If so, you may have just discovered something nefarious. We hear about employers who don't send payroll taxes to the government as required for various taxes they've withheld from employees' paychecks. They pocket the money instead, maybe because they're running into cashflow problems. Something like that may have happened to you: you observed the withholding on your paycheck but didn't get credit on your earnings record.

Depending on why earnings are missing, you might be able to get them corrected. That's the short answer. The worst Social Security can say is no. But if you bring evidence that you had withholdings or earnings that should have been reported – or that were reported but didn't show up on your earnings record -- I think chances are pretty good that Social Security will get it corrected for you.

I would reach out to Social Security and provide whatever proof you have of earnings that should have given you credit towards Social Security in the missing years. See what they say and if they can help. They may very well be able to get that corrected for you and hopefully increase your benefit.

Your situation is one of the reasons why we encourage people to check their earnings records every couple of years. You used to receive an annual mailed Social Security statement that let you monitor your earnings record as it got populated year after year. They no longer send statements out automatically, except on certain trigger events.

But it's easy to check now by going into your account on Social Security's website at SSA.gov and accessing your full earnings record at any time. Again, you should check it at least every couple of years. We suggest that frequency because (1) you want to stay within that 'three years, three months, fifteen days' correction period, and (2) you don't want to wait so long that any records or proof you had disappear. You might throw something away or lose it. Or the employer can go out of business, so you can't access the proof. Checking your earnings record periodically is a good idea to prevent such obstacles.

One thing to remember: as long as you were married for at least ten years and haven't remarried, as a divorced spouse, you still have all the rights to claim benefits on your ex-spouse's Social Security work record as if you were still married. As long as he is at least 62 years old when you try to claim, you are eligible for a spousal benefit. In your case, even if your benefit is meager – maybe due partially to missing earnings records -- that spousal benefit could still be available. However, if you've remarried, the spousal access would be attached to your new spouse's record, age, and so forth.

Also, if your ex-spouse predeceases you, as long as you haven't remarried before age 60, you have access to the survivor benefit. You didn't mention anything about remarriage, which could undermine your eligibility, but always be aware of the possibility of other benefits that you weren't expecting. If you were married for at least ten years, that would be something to look into.

In cases like this, I always suggest using a Social Security benefits calculator before you start banging on the Social Security doors. By entering the missing years of earnings in a calculator, you can see if it makes a difference in your benefit. Depending on your whole earnings record, replacing a couple of zeroes with what you believe were your earnings in those years may not change your benefit noticeably because of how it is calculated. I wouldn't invest much time and effort trying to fix something if it won't help you.

I also recommend you pursue the issue sooner rather than later for another reason. As staffing challenges increase at Social Security, their ability to deal with these one-off situations could be compromised. It could take longer and longer to resolve an issue if it can be resolved at all.