Social Security Updates Marriage Proof Forms for Benefit Seekers
Published Date: 8/29/2025
Notice
Summary
The Social Security Administration wants your feedback on some updated forms they use to check marriage status and other info. These changes aim to make the process clearer and easier, especially for folks in common-law marriages. If you’re affected, you’ve got until October 28, 2025, to share your thoughts—no extra costs, just a chance to help improve how SSA collects info!
Analyzed Economic Effects
8 provisions identified: 4 benefits, 2 costs, 2 mixed.
Overseas beneficiary reporting revised
SSA is revising Forms SSA-7161-OCR-SM and SSA-7162-OCR-SM used for annual or biennial reporting by individuals living outside the United States who receive Title II benefits. SSA says these reports are mandatory, are used to determine continuing entitlement, and their results can increase, decrease, suspend, or terminate benefit payments; SSA is making minor instructional changes and updating Privacy Act text per Pub. L. 115-165.
Child disability report revised
SSA updated Form SSA-3820-BK, the Disability Report—Child, which collects medical, educational, and other evidence for a child's Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability claim. The form is used by parents, guardians, or caretakers to provide the information State Disability Determination Services need to decide childhood disability claims; SSA updated the Privacy Act and Paperwork Reduction Act statements.
SSN verification service: fees and audits
The electronic Consent Based SSN Verification (eCBSV) is a fee-based SSN verification service for permitted entities; SSA estimates 58,000,000 annual requests and published a 12-tier annual fee schedule (Tier 1 up to 10,000 = $5,100; Tier 6 up to 2.5 million = $907,500; Tier 12 up to 200 million = $5,878,125). Permitted entities must pay compliance review costs and SSA requires periodic price adjustments to recover costs.
Public consent and time burden for SSN checks
People whose SSNs SSA will verify must read and sign consent (3 minutes) and the act of submitting a verification request takes about 1 minute; SSA estimates 58,000,000 such people and reports total annual burdens of 2,900,000 hours for reading/signing and 966,667 hours for submitting requests, with theoretical opportunity costs totaling about $82,184,215.
Advance designee receipts stopped; mySSA access
SSA will stop sending Advance Designation of Representative Payee receipts to customers and says respondents can still access their advance designation information via their mySocial Security accounts. SSA reports totals of 4,903,251 respondents, 289,844 total annual burden hours, and an estimated theoretical opportunity cost of $40,674,623 for this collection.
Common-law marriage form updated
SSA revised Form SSA-753, Statement Regarding Marriage, with minor language changes for clarity and consistency. SSA uses this form to collect third-party information to verify intent, cohabitation, and holding out for common-law marriages to decide entitlement to Social Security spouse or widow(er) benefits.
Foreign coverage certificate form updated
SSA revised the Certificate of Coverage request process used to establish exemption from foreign Social Security coverage and taxation under U.S. totalization agreements with 30 countries. The form changes include updated Privacy Act and Paperwork Reduction Act statements; respondents are workers and employers requesting a U.S. certificate of coverage.
Request written record of oral favorable decision
Under SSA rules for incorporation-by-reference of wholly favorable oral decisions, parties may request a written record of the oral decision. SSA updated burden estimates for Form HA-82, showing a decreased number of respondents and an estimated total annual burden of 52 hours.
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