Social Security for Spouses?

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brooksea

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Disability Benefits

I don't ever remember reading this before. Has the law changed? My dad called me and told me to look at this on the SS site:

Can my family get benefits?

Certain members of your family may qualify for benefits based on your work. They include:
Your spouse, if he or she is 62 or older;
Your spouse, at any age if he or she is caring for a child of yours who is younger than age 16 or disabled;
Your unmarried child, including an adopted child, or, in some cases, a stepchild or grandchild. The child must be younger than age 18 or younger than 19 if in elementary or secondary school full time; and
Your unmarried child, age 18 or older, if he or she has a disability that started before age 22. (The child’s disability also must meet the definition of disability for adults.)


Our son gets benefits, but I don't and at the time we applied was told that was it as far as benefits go.

Can anyone enlighten me?
 
The way I understand is that if the spouse is working then they can't collect. Also there is a family maximum based on your income and credits. So once you reach your family maximum that is it, you are not getting any more money regardless of who in your family is eligible. In my situation I have 3 children who are under 18 and eligible for benefits. However they do not get all that they are eligible for because we would exceed our family maximum. So if you are not working see if you have reached your family maximum. If not you may be eligible for some more money.

I hope this didn't confuse you.
 
CJ, You are eligible for as long as your son is under 16, however, there is a maximum family benefit, so in our case, the amount was the same, whether they paid me or not. Just less paper work for it to be all on the kids. Brian will stop getting his in June, when he graduates, however, Allyson's will go up by the same amount . Right now each kid gets about $450, in June when Brian's ends, Ally's will go up to $900.
 
hi i receive ssdi im 43 . with that my 4 children and my wife receive benifits from my claim . its not alot but its better then nothing. as it is there is a figured amount they all split. as long as im alive my wife gets hers and my children get theirs until age 19 and still in school weither im alive or dead three of the kids are my step kids. hope this helps
 
smwelder, your wife only gets benefits as long as there is a child under 16. Once all of your children are over 16, she will no longer receive benefits. If my husband is alive when my son graduates from high school, we will stop receiving the amount that we get in addition to my husband's SSDI.
 
OK. So, there is a set amount a FAMILY will receive based on earned benefits of the disabled person (I assume), period.

If the spouse chooses to receive benefits til the kid turns 16, does that money the spouse received then go to the kids allotment til they are no longer in school (19)?

I thought I was pretty savvy on SS, but whoever came up with all these ins and outs for SS must have had a maze for a brain!

Also, do any of you have to fill out the form regarding whether or not you spend all the money you receive in the kid's name on the kid? DUH! And then some!
 
Yes, our whole family is recieving SS.... Gosh do not know about the other rules. Yes, we have to fill out the forms on how much we spent on the kids. I always just put that we spent all the money on them..which is true...but have never tallied everything up. Gosh...it is so overwhelming!
 
I was told by a financial planner NEVER tell them you saved a dime. Spend the SS money FIRST. If you're going to save money for college, do it in a separate account with other money.
 
I haven't been asked to show that I spend the check that comes in my son's name on my son. He goes to private school, so I could just show them a tuition bill!
 
In my case, I don't qualify for SS; and my husband makes too much money for me to qualify for SSI. He is a high school teacher, soccer coach and cross country coach making $42,000 a year and we have 5 kids still living at home. My oldest 2 are in college(1 has chiari malformation-a brain disorder), next one graduates from high school and is legally blind with a tumor, my 5th child has brain damage with mild cerebral palsy, dyslexia and apraxia, and child #6 has epilepsy, COPD, Laryngomalacia, and a weakened immune system (last yr was her first year in school as she was removed from the Lung transplant list and had 7 surgeries in 2 1/2 yrs and 3 more to go). Four qualify for SSI, but do not receive it because they do not count the 2 oldest children (who still live at home and we still feed them). Then I hear of these others whose children get it for ADD or ADHD. The only way we would qualify would be for my husband and me to separate. So the government would rather we have a broken home than a broken piggy bank. Just this past year alone; I have accumulated between $12- $14,000.00 in med bills alone. I remember seeing someone's pic of a skinny piggy bank-I need that pic!
Kimberly
 
Could someone help me with my question? Maybe this was addressed already, if so, sorry. I missed it.
Im wondering about my PALS situation. He lives with his mom, who is his main caregiver.
She receives SS just because she is 75 years old. Could she be receiving some for being his caregiver?
He gets really good money from SSDI and actually supports her financially, as she only gets a few hundred a month.
Anyone know anything about this?
Thank you much.
 
No nothing for caregivers as far as I know.
 
I was hoping maybe something along the lines of her being able to collect something because she has a disabled child living at home.
Maybe thats where the age restrictions come in.
Thanks for the reply.
 
Mom... have you verified that with Social Security or through an attorney that specializes in SS? If possible.. you'll want your diagnosis before you apply.
 
what about a spouse e.g. if your partner is on ssdi & passes away then should the partner not get the SSDI automatically? why do they make it so hard for family's ? yes we have 4 children but they are all grown, I will not survive on 20 hrs a week @ 8.30 an hour !
 
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