I previously wrote about how Social Security disability benefits stop during incarceration.

However, your Social Security disability benefits can also stop if you labeled a “Fugitive Felon.”

Fugitive felons is anyone who is

• Fleeing to avoid prosecution for a crime which is a felony; or
• Fleeing to avoid custody or confinement after conviction for a crime which is a felony; or
• Individuals receiving Title XVI payments or Title II benefits who are violating a condition of probation or parole imposed under Federal or State law.

Read more at Social Security.

Jonathan Ginsberg of the Social Security Disability Blog writes about what happens to your Social Security benefits if you are jail/prison.

I recently received an email question from a blog reader about the eligibility of a convicted felon for Social Security disability benefits.  There is a simple answer here - you may not collect disability benefits during the time you are incarcerated.  Social Security ruling 83-28 addresses this situation directly.

There are a number of related issues, which I will be writing about in the days and weeks ahead.  But, initially, I wanted to lay the groundwork by noting that you cannot receive Social Security disability benefits while you are incarcerated.

May an Incarcerated Felon Receive Social Security Disability Benefits?.

Under Social Security Regulations (20 CFR 404.352), the entitlement to child’s benefits may end for any of the following reasons.

1. You turn 18 years old and are not disabled or a full time student. Benefits end the month before the month in which you became 18 years old. Why does Social Security has to say, “the month before the month” rather than 2 months before? I have no idea.
2. Your disability ends. Benefits end with the second month following the month in which the disability ends. Exception: your benefits may be continued after your impairment is no longer disabling if you are participating in a program of vocational rehabilitation services, employment services, or other support services and you meet other requirements described at the bottom of this page.
3. You turn 19 and are not disabled. If you have not yet gotten your diploma or certificate, benefits can be paid until the last month of the semester or quarter in which you turned 19. Actually, Social Security’s language is even more hairy. The regulation says the entitlement ends, “With the last month you are a full-time student or, if earlier, with the month before the month you become age 19, if you become 18 years old and you qualify as a full-time student who is not disabled. If you become age 19 in a month in which you have not completed the requirements for, or received, a diploma or equivalent certificate from an elementary or secondary school and you are required to enroll for each quarter or semester, we will find your entitlement ended with the month in which the quarter or semester in which you are enrolled ends. If the school you are attending does not have a quarter or semester system which requires reenrollment, we will find your entitlement to benefits ended with the month you complete the course or, if earlier, the first day of the third month following the month in which you become 19 years old.” Got all that? Good!
4. You get married. Benefits end “the month before the month” you marry. Exception: your benefits will not end if you are age 18 or older, disabled, and you marry a person entitled to child’s benefits based on disability or a person entitled to old-age, divorced wife’s, divorced husband’s, widow’s, widower’s, mother’s, father’s, parent’s, or disability benefits.
5. [omited - this reason for stopping benefits deals with cases of entitlement to child's benefits not when a parent is dead, but when a parent is alive and receiving either old-age or disability benefits. Since this article only deals with why child's benefits paid because of a death of a parent may terminate, this reason is beyond the scope of this article.]
6. You die.

If you were disabled, but your impairment is no longer disabling, your benefits may be continued if you meet the following requirements. Note: I am liberally quoting directly from the regulations here.

1. “You are participating in an appropriate program of vocational rehabilitation services, employment services, or other support services, as described in §404.327(a) and (b);

2. “You began participating in the program before the date your disability ended; and
3. “Social Security has determined under §404.328 that your completion of the program, or your continuation in the program for a specified period of time, will increase the likelihood that you will not have to return to the disability benefit rolls.”

If you qualify to continue to receive child’s benefits after your disability ends (described above), Social Security may continue to pay your benefits until—

1. “The month in which you complete the program; or
2. “The month in which you stop participating in the program for any reason (see §404.327(b)); or
3. “The month in which Social Security determines under §404.328 that your continuing participation in the program will no longer increase the likelihood that you will not have to return to the disability benefit rolls.”

If you are 18 years old or over and disabled, and drug addiction or alcoholism was a material factor in the determination of your disability, there are special rules which may terminate your eligibility for child’s benefits. See §404.352(c).

photo credit: _Zahira_

This means there are a number of ways these benefits may stop:

1. You remarry. The exception to this is if you remarry some entitled to old-age, disability, wife’s, husband’s, widow’s, widower’s, father’s, mother’s, parent’s or disabled child’s benefits. See. 20 CFR 404.341.
2. The child turns 16 (if the child is not disabled).
3. The child is 16 or older and Social Security decides that the child is no longer disabled (you do not actively supervise his or her activities and you do not make important decisions about is or her needs; or, it is not necessary for you to perform personal services for him or her such as dressing, feeding, and managing money that the child cannor do alone because of a disability). See 20 CFR 404.348.
4. The child is no longer in your care. See 20 CFR 404.349.

For more information see 20 CFR 404.339.

I thought children could get benefits until age 18 or 19?

Yes, that is true. Mother’s or father’s benefits may end when the child turns 16. However, the child may also be eligible for child’s benefits, which can be paid until age 18 or 19. See 20 CFR 404.350

photo credit: alessandro pucci

California Blogging has a story about surviving a four year Social Security Audit(!)

During the audit they inspect every account, every dime I make and spend.   I am allowed some money from some sources. Services from other government or social programs are not counted against Zachary.  Even though it’s immaterial it’s still audited.  Child support is counted against Zachary and people wonder why I don’t really go after his dad?  During the audit if you are missing a receipt for anything, your worker will make up an amount higher than the average number you have shown.

You can read the entire story on story on California Blogging.

If you have a child on Supplemental Security Income, Social Security looks at the entire household income to determine if the child is financially elligible to receive SSI benefits.

In some cases, this means even if the child is disabled, the family cannot receive any SSI benefits because the household income is too high. I have had cases where the parents wait until the child is 18 to apply, because at 18, Social Security only looks at the child’s income (often zero), not the household income.

But even if your household income is not too high at the beginning, you have to regularly prove to Social Security that your income is below the allowed amount. This results in audits.

 photo credit: Phillip

A number of people responded to my prior post about “substantial gainful activity” amounts. To briefly review: the general rule is that you cannot earn more than the substantial gainful activity amounts to be found disabled.

What do I do if I am earning more than the substantial gainful activity amount? Does than mean I cannot get Social Security disability benefits?!?

Not necessarily. Earnings above SGA amounts are an important factor. But, there are exceptions that may allow you to still qualify for Social Security disability benefits even if you are earning more than the SGA amounts. Some of these exceptions include:

1. Impairment Related Work Expenses (IRWE).
2. Subsidies.
3. Unsuccessful Work Attempts (UWA).

I will address these in future articles. But for now, just be aware that if you are earning more than the allowed SGA amounts, it is not the end for your case.

 photo credit: Darren Hester