As the result of the Parisi by Cooney v. Chater reduction of benefits under the family
maximum in cases involving dual entitlement – Title II of the Social Security Act)
court case decision, Acquiescence Ruling 97-1(1), now applies to all States. Under
this ruling, we will consider only the benefit actually payable when reducing the
benefits of dually entitled auxiliaries or survivors. (The benefit payable to the
dually entitled person is the amount before any applicable reduction for age, government
pension offset (GPO), or workers' compensation offset (WC).) Pay any resulting increase
to other auxiliaries or survivors entitled on the same record.
Only pay this increase to others who are not dually entitled. If there are no other
beneficiaries who are not dually entitled, this change does not apply. As used in
the following section, the phrase decision or determination means any decision by
a court, Appeals Council, or administrative law judge or any initial or reconsideration
determination that awards benefits.