Substantial Services in Self-Employment

QUESTION:
My daughter was recently widowed. She has 2 young children. In her discussion with Social Security, she asked about relief from the earning limit on her survivor's benefit because she works less than 45 hours per week. The Social Security interviewer told her that the "substantial services" rule, which you discuss in Section 804, is only applicable to disability cases, not survivors. Is that correct?

Bob from NY State

ANSWER:
I’m sorry to hear about your daughter’s loss. The “substantial services” 45 hours rule for self-employment is per month, not per week. This rule applies in survivors and retirement claims, and only for self-employed persons. So although the SS worker was wrong, it won't seem to help your daughter, unless you meant "month" rather than "week."

If you need the citation to the POMS (SSA’s operating rules) it is RS 02505.65- “Meaning of Substantial Services in Self-Employment.

The substantial services rules for disability cases are much more complex, because they serve a different purpose, i.e. determing if someone is disabled.