Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing American Social Security benefits. Now this is one of those topics, I don't want to get into like a deep drill down because everybody's circumstances is going to dictate the analysis on whether or not somebody is entitled to Social Security that is married to an American citizen, but there's a lot of assumptions. This is actually one of those topics that reminds me of a lot of stuff you would read about on like Thai Visa 10 years ago, when they talked about immigration and people would make all of these assumptions and presumptions that just weren't correct on a case-by-case basis necessarily.

A lot of people think oh you just get married and therefore you are married and if you pass away, your spouse just inherits your Social Security benefits. That is not necessarily how it works. It might be depending on your circumstances, but US Social Security has various criteria associated with spousal benefits and death benefits etc. It is not necessarily a foregone conclusion that simply getting married - especially to a foreign national - will necessarily vest certain Social Security benefits to that person. It might in some cases, it might not in other cases. It might be a mixed bag where things like the death benefit may be available but other benefits may not. I know people think I am kind of a broken record here, but it is going to be very much dependent on the underlying facts in a given case whether or not Social Security benefits are going to vest toward one's Thai spouse. 

Now on top of that, certain US Immigration considerations do factor in to the analysis of whether Social Security will vest. For example, having Lawful Permanent Residence in the United States may have an impact. Having worked in the United States, especially legally, and having contributed into the Social Security System may also have an impact on whether or not one may vest in their spouse's benefits. 

So, the thing to take away from this video and understand, it's not simply a foregone conclusion that all of one's Social Security benefits in the context of an American citizen will necessarily vest to the benefit of their Thai spouse, purely by or I should say exclusively by dint of the fact that they are married to a foreign national or to a Thai spouse. That in and of itself is not necessarily enough to see those benefits necessarily vest to the benefit of that Thai spouse.