20 C.F.R. § 404.440
Where, under the apportionment described in § 404.439 , a person's prorated share of the partial benefit exceeds the benefit rate to which he was entitled before excess earnings of the insured individual were charged, such person's share of the partial benefit is reduced to the amount he would have been paid had there been no deduction for excess earnings (see example). The remainder of the partial benefit is then paid to other persons eligible to receive benefits in the proportion that the benefit of each such other person bears to the total of the benefits to which all such other persons are entitled (before reduction for the family maximum). Thus, if only two beneficiaries are involved, payment is made to one as if no deduction had been imposed; and the balance of the partial benefit is paid to the other. If three or more beneficiaries are involved, however, reapportionment of the excess of the beneficiary's share of the partial benefit over the amount he would have been paid without the deduction is made in proportion to his original entitlement rate (before reduction for the family maximum). If the excess amount involved at any point totals less than $1, it is not reapportioned; instead, each beneficiary is paid on the basis of the last calculation.
Example: Family maximum is $150. Insured individual's excess earnings charged to the month are $25. The remaining $125 is prorated as partial payment.
| Original benefit | Fraction of original total benefit | Benefit after deductions for excess earnings but before reduction for family maximum | Benefit reduced for maximum but without deductions for excess earnings | Benefit payable after both deductions and reductions (and rounded) | |
| Insured Individual | $100 | 2/5 | 50 | 100.00 | 75 |
| Wife | 50 | 1/5 | 25 | 16.60 | 16 |
| Child | 50 | 1/5 | 25 | 16.60 | 16 |
| Child | 50 | 1/5 | 25 | 16.60 | 16 |
20 C.F.R. §404.440