Spouse and Children Questions

[crunched]

I have a few questions from people who actually may know... I have a 4 month old that lives with me, and a 10 year old that lives with my ex... my wife does not work, she stays home and takes care of me and the baby... I recently received my fully favorable decision from the ALJ - now...

According to the SS website... children are entitled to 50% of your award, up to 150-180% of the total benefits.. that makes it seem that if I get 1000, they will both get 500 - now thats from the SS website, yet I have heard that they have to split half.. even though that isn't what SS says... The other question is this, SS says that spouses that are taking care of children of the disabled are also elgible for up to 50% of the claimants award... yet I have been told that spouses get nothing...

Who is right? Here are actual pastes from the SS website

Your spouse who is age 62 or older, or any age if he or she is caring for a child of yours who is under age 16 or disabled and also receiving checks.

Within your family, each qualified child may receive a monthly payment up to one-half of your full disability amount, but there is a limit to the amount that can be paid to the family as a whole. This total depends on the amount of your benefit and the number of family members who also qualify on your record. The total varies, but it is approximately 150 to 180 percent of your disability benefit.

Any help??

[facingforward]

The family maximum rules determine how much others can receive based on your work record. Different formulas apply to determine the family maximum if you receive age retirement benefits or if you receive disability benefits.

This leads to the rules for the family maximums applicable to you as a disabled worker. (Remember the PIA is the amount you receive.)

http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/dibfamilymax.html

The family maximum for a family of a disabled worker is 85 percent of the worker's AIME. However, it cannot be less than the worker's PIA nor more than 150 percent of the PIA.

[Dabbadoo7]

FacingForward is correct, the family maximum does come in to play at some point.

Aside from that, a spouse does not automatically get benefits for staying home with you. There has to be a determination of need. Are you physically unable to to take care of yourself for such things as bathing, eating, making meals, etc.? If not, then I would contact SS ASAP. If you can do some of these things, then your spouse may not qualify as a caregiver.

Your best approach is to still contact SS and talk to them about it. Good luck.

Dabbadoo

[cindybear]

they say 50% of what you get...But my daughter received ( i have 1 child that got benefits ) for 18 months. And she got a whole 135.00 dollars each month..Which is not close to 50%..so don't count on it being 50%..Cause it will not be..I thought she would get at least half of what I got --wrong...But I guess a little bit is better than nothing...Hugs, Cindy

[crunched]

Well, I guess I will just have to wait and see how that goes... another scary thing is my ex-wife can attempt to get benifits as well because she is taking care of my child.. is she gets them, will her check reduce the amount of my other family members?

[DiMarie]

Family Max must come into play in my case. I receive about $600 and my daughter 10, $16.00

When my ex husband received ssdi I received $12.00 for our son I had full custody of, and our child support did not change.

I was off work for alomst two years, and then six months of half time before returning back to work. Later that year, my injury gave out when I was in a car accident, So I only had 4 months of full income. I expect they avg it out over the three years of income loss. When I was off the first 18 months I applied for ssdi, but did nto follow through as I returned to work.

At that time in 1997 I would have received over $900 a month....sucks.
I should have followed through with the ssdi then...now I am at a loss for good.

I still am in disbelief that my daughter only receives the $16.00

[Sammie]

Yep, I wondered about this as well...My son receives about 25% of what I receive. I was also under the impression that he would receive half of what I get...Also, I thought my husband was to get benefits as well as he takes care of my child, (his step-son).. I was told my husband would not get this benefit because we don't have children together?

[fallenangell]

I was just in to the SSA office a couple of weeks ago and they talked to me about children and spouses benefits since I asked. They said that my daughter would be receiving just under 50% of my income, and that my spouse (when my fiance and I get married) is not eligibile for any of my benefits unless he is home taking care of my disabled child. Which I don't have, since my child is not disabled. Otherwords, nothing for him.

So, I guess we'll see what happens, if she does actually get the amount they said she would, because they did actualy quote me an amout that hers will be after I start receiving the depended benefits. Or if like all things dealing with the SSA, they were just yanking my chain.

Angell

[crunched]

Well, we went down and YES, I get spouse benefits - and as it turns out, my total family mb was not as high as I though it was.. but the wife and kids all split what was left over... but the spouse benefits do take away from the kids benefits...but all and all, if leaves more benefits in my home and less in the ex-spouses