Social Security’s deemed-filing rule makes anyone born after January 1, 1954 apply for their own and any spousal benefit together By Elizabeth Blessing, Anyone born after January 1, 1954, meaning on or after January 2, 1954, who applies for either a Social Security retirement benefit or a spouse’s benefit is treated as applying for both. The rule is called deemed filing, and it applies at any age, so claiming early does not let a person take just one. The Social Security Administration’s operations manual says deemed filing now covers retirement and spouse’s benefits, reduced and unreduced, “at any age” for people in that birth group. It came from the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. What deemed filing actually does A person who is eligible for both a retirement benefit and a spouse’s benefit in the first month they want payments has to file for both. SSA’s claiming planner says deemed filing “applies at age 62 and extends to full retirement age and beyond.” The result is one combined payment. In a post on spouse’s benefits, SSA writer Dawn Bystry explained that anyone who qualifies for both must apply for both and receives a combined benefit equal to the higher amount. A spouse’s benefit does not stack on top of a person’s own check. SSA says early claiming permanently reduces a spouse’s benefit, which tops out at half of the worker’s full retirement age amount. A person who claims early and is deemed to file for both takes that reduction on the spouse’s side as well. Anyone in the 1954-and-later group who is thinking about claiming early should work out the combined amount before filing, since filing for one benefit now sets the age for both. A spouse’s benefit also depends on the worker already receiving benefits, so the two claims often have to be planned together