Social Security is not just for adults who are unable to work at their job because of a medical condition; it is also available for children. If your child meets the medical and income requirements, they may be entitled to draw a monthly benefit check until they are 18 years old (when they can apply for the adult version). Meeting the income requirements in order to qualify can be extremely confusing, so read on to learn more.
Social Security Supplemental Insurance (SSDI)
The government offers two different types of disability programs to aid those in need. Unlike the Social Security Disability program, the SSDI program has no requirements for work credits and is available to both adults and minor children. The SSDI program is also different in the way that it considers your income and assets. In fact, before your medical condition is even considered for the approval purposes, you must meet the financial requirements. For children, the income and assets of the child's parents or guardians are evaluated in a process known as "deeming". A certain portion of income and assets are "deemed" to be available for the child's care, and to qualify you must not exceed that amount.
Income Not Counted
The income counted includes not only the parent's, but also any child support provided to the child. The number of other children in the home is used to reduce the deemed amount. Not all income or assets are counted toward the deeming, however. You can usually exclude the following forms of family income:
Assets Not Counted
Usually, you can exclude your personal vehicles and the family home from the assets limits. However, second homes, vacation homes, boats, investment accounts and savings accounts are deemed as assets that could be liquidated to provide for the child.
Benefits May Fluctuate
You must submit your income each month and each month the benefit amount and the a child's eligibility is re-evaluated and re-calculated. All of the following could cause a decrease or stoppage of payments:
1. Changes in a parent's income.
2. One parent or guardian dies.
3. One parent or guardian moves out of the home.
4. The child leaves the home. It should be noted that temporary changes should not affect the benefit. For example, a child is allowed to visit a grandparent for a few weeks or to go away to a boarding school without it affecting SSDI payments.
If you are having trouble getting an approval for your child's SSDI, contact a Social Security attorney for more information. Contact a firm like The Nelson Law Firm LLC to learn more.
Share27 October 2016
When I started my first small business, I had no idea how much I really didn’t know. I was fully prepared to deal with customers, sell product and even handle complaints and returns. What I wasn’t aware of was that there is so much more to it. I was lacking the legal expertise to protect the company and myself. I wanted others to benefit from my experience, mistakes and lessons learned, so I started this blog. From employment law to the legal business contracts you’ll have to sign when you form partnerships, business law is complex. I hope that the information here will help you to be better prepared when you start your business so that you’ll know when you need to call an attorney and when you can handle things yourself.
