When do Social Security benefits stop after incarceration
As a general rule, you are not entitled to Social Security disability benefits if you are incarcerated in jail or prison. However, Social Security benefits do not end immediately with incarceration:
If you are on SSI (Title 16 – Supplemental Security Income benefits), your Social Security disability benefits do not stop until you are incarcerated for 30 days:
If you get a monthly SSI check and you are in jail, your SSI check will stop after you are in jail for a full calendar month.
For example, if you were in jail on 3/21/01 and you will stay there to serve a three-month sentence, SSA will stop your SSI check beginning …
Tips on restarting Social Security disability benefits after incarceration
Social Security may be able to restart your benefits after you are released from incarceration (jail or prison). Click here for more information on whether you may be able to resume benefits vs having to start a new claim for benefits.
If you are eligible to resume your benefits, here are Social Security’s recommendations to get your Social Security disability or SSI benefits as quickly as possible:
If possible, you or the prison should contact Social Security before you are released. As soon as you know your scheduled release date, ask if the prison has a pre-release agreement …
Starting Social Security disability benefits after incarceration
After you are released from jail or prison, will Social Security let you restart your benefits or will you have to start a new application?
The answer depends on the kind of benefits you received (Social Security Disability Insurance – SSDI, or Supplemental Security Income – SSI) and how long you were incarcerated in jail or prison.
Restarting SSI after incarceration:
It is possible to restart SSI benefits if you were incarcerated for less than 12 months.
After you are incarcerated for a year or longer though, you have to start a …
Social Security Auxiliary benefits for children in a separate household
A reader asked if a child can still receive Social Security auxiliary benefits if she is living apart from the disabled parent:
If I have legal guardianship of my nephew and my sister is receiving SSDI. Can I apply to receive the benefits for his caretaking? My sister has been told that she could receive benefits for him, but unless she gets to keep it, she won’t apply for it, saying that the SS office told her it was only if he lived with her. Is that true or could I apply for him?
This is similar to a situation I wrote about concerning …
Paternity and children’s Social Security benefits
Children can often receive Social Security benefits if a parent is disabled or deceased. I have previously written about these kind of Social Security auxiliary and survivors benefits. However, there are times when proving paternity becomes an issue. Here are a couple of situations where this comes up:
Parents separate and, the non-custodial father becomes disabled (potential auxiliary benefits based on a disabled parent).
Common law marriages with a disabled husband or wife splitting with the father denying paternity (potential auxiliary benefits based on a disabled parent).
Father dies (potential survivors benefits based on a deceased parent) but Social Security denies the claim because there is not enough evidence proving paternity.
Note: most of the examples deal with paternity. However, the same laws apply if there is a question of who the mother is.
Also, I am focusing on resolving paternity without a court ordered DNA test or exhumation.
Social Security has regulations describing when a child is a “natural child” of the parent (full text below). Note: for adopted children, check out this article.
According to Social Security’s regulations, a child may be eligible to receive benefits from the insured if:
My SSI benefits stopped because I was in a hospital! Why?
Here is the short answer: if you are hospitalized in a medical treatment facility for 30 days, your SSI benefits may be cut to $30 per month.
Now, here is the long answer:
You are not eligible for SSI benefits for any month throughout which you are a resident of a “public institution.” A “public institution” means an institution that is operated by or controlled by the Federal government, a State, or a political subdivision of a State such as a city or county.
As a side note, if you apply for SSI while you are a resident of a public institution, you cannot be eligible for payment of benefits (even though you meet all other eligibility requirements) until the “first day of the month following the day of your release from the institution.”
Basically, your benefits will not start until the month after your release. If you were released on January 1st, your benefits would start February 1st. If you are released January 31st, your benefits still start on February 1st. The first day of the month following the day of your release from the institution.
However, this does not include a publicly operated community residence which serves 16 or fewer residents. What is a community residence?
How to avoid an overpayment of Social Security benefits
If you are receiving Social Security disability benefits, the last thing you want is to get a letter in the mail telling you that you owe Social Security money. I have seem many individuals with overpayment notices for tens of thousands of dollars.
So, what can you do?
Read what Social Security sends you
This may sound obvious, but who wants to slog through the brochures and letters Social Security sends? Well, unless you want to be stuck with an overpayment, you do!
Social Security expects individuals to be diligent about complying with the requirements of the benefits they receive. Social Security sends out publications when benefits begin and it is a good idea to review them at least annually. Here are two critical ones:
Are Social Security disability benefits forever?
Many people wonder what will happen after they are approved for Social Security disability benefits?
Will my benefits be stopped?
Will I continue to get Social Security disability benefits for the rest of my life?
Except for closed period cases, Social Security disability benefits normally can continue for an indefinite period of time. An individual may be able to receive benefit for the rest of his or her life.
Of course, this assumes that the impairments continue to be disabling (and any other non-medical requirements continue to be met).
Here is the catch:
Can a 18 year old full time student still get Social Security child’s benefits?
I was recently asked if Social Security child’s benefits continue for a full-time student who is 18 or over.
Here is the answer in a directly from Social Security:
No. At one time, SSA did pay benefits to eligible college students, but the law changed in 1981. Benefits stop when a child reaches age 18 unless he or she:
Is disabled; or
Attends a secondary (grade 12 or below) or elementary school full-time.
In general, benefits end when:
The student graduates ; or
The student turns age 19 and two months, whichever is first.
Normally, benefits stop when a child reaches age 18 unless he or she is disabled. However, if the child is still a full-time student at a secondary (or elementary) school at age 18, benefits generally can continue until he or she graduates or until two months after he or she reaches age 19, whichever is first.
Here are the applicable regulations:
What are Social Security auxiliary benefits
When a disabled individual receives Social Security disability insurance benefits (also known as DIB, SSDI or Title 2 benefits), their spouse and/or minor children may also be eligible to receive Social Security benefits. These benefits paid to the spouse or minor child are called “auxiliary benefits.”
Wait a minute, I’m on SSI, but my kids didn’t get any Social Security benefits.
Whether a spouse or children receive Social Security benefits depends on which Social Security benefits the spouse or parent is receiving. There are two kinds of Social Security disability benefits: Social Security disability insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
Note: …
How does borrowing money affect Social Security Supplemental Security Income SSI disability benefits
It can be very difficult to get by on the small amount of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) pays. Many individuals are forced to borrow money from friends or family just to make ends meet. But, how can this negatively affect SSI eligibility?
Social Security mother’s and father’s benefits
If your spouse dies leaving you to take care of children under the age of 16, you may be entitled to Mother’s and Father’s benefits (commonly called parent’s benefits) under Social Security.
These are separate from the benefits the children may be entitled to based on the death (or disability) of a parent.
When does Social Security review cases for premature babies?
Social Security may approve Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits to children with a low birth weight (regardless or whether the child is premature).
According to the Social Security regulations, these cases are often reviewed by the child’s first birthday.
When we will conduct a continuing disability review. … we will start a continuing disability review …
By your first birthday, if you are a child whose low birth weight was a contributing factor material to our determination that you were disabled; i.e., whether we would have found you disabled if we had not considered your low birth weight. However, we will conduct your continuing disability review later if at the time …
Are Social Security disability benefits taxable?
People often ask, “Do I have to pay taxes on Social Security benefits?”
SSI benefits are not federally taxable.
Things get a bit more complicated with SSDI benefits. Here is the answer directly from Social Security:
Question: I receive Social Security disability benefits. Do I have to pay income tax on these benefits?
Answer: You will have to pay federal taxes on your benefits if you file a federal tax return as an individual and your total income is more than $25,000. If you file a joint return, you will have to pay taxes if you and your spouse have a total income of more than $32,000.
Social Security has no authority to withhold …
How parent’s income effects children’s Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability benefits
If you have a child or grandchild with a disability, you may be thinking about applying for Social Security disability benefits for the child. The most common type of children’s disability benefits is Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
However, proving disability in only half of a SSI case. All SSI cases have two parts:
The individual (adult or child) has to be medically disabled (this includes psychological disabilities).
The individual has to be financially eligible to receive SSI benefits.
It is quite possible for Social Security to decide that a person is disabled, but then deny that individual on financial grounds. See my article …
