Can I Receive Family Benefits For Stepchildren?

[KennyJ]

My wife has two children one 5, and one 6. I will be having my ALJ hearing in September. That will make 19 months since I requested the hearing. Will I recieve family Benefits for my wife and her children if I receive SSDI.

[JR Reihs]

Kenny,

You get none for your wife, but you will get them for the kids.......do you have any of your own?....Kids will get a seperate check for each, it is about half of what you get per month split between each child until the reach age 18 or are no longer in school after 18.

Make sure SS has all the information on them so you will not have to do this at a later date.

[brandon-n-lisa]

I was recently approved for SSDI. From what I understood, all of your natural children qualify, whether they live with you or not. Stepchildren qualify as long as you provide for more than half of there care. Your spouse also qualifies as long as your household income is under a certain level

It is true that your children get 50% split between them. If you get $1000 a month, and you have five kids, then they get $100 dollars each for a total of $500.

I don't know what the amount is for your spouse, because my wife makes too much money, and did not qualify. But, I know that the benefit is there because SS called and asked if we wanted to apply for it and then took the info and then said she made too much.

I hope this helps.

[Philip Rogers]

My wife has two children one 5, and one 6. I will be having my ALJ hearing in September. That will make 19 months since I requested the hearing. Will I recieve family Benefits for my wife and her children if I receive SSDI.

I have never heard of a spouse earning too much money, unless the claimant is receiving SSI. Unless this is something new, you should receive a benefit for your spouse, if you receive SSDI, and how much she earns should have no bearing on it. Your spouse should receive a benefit until the youngest child reaches age 16, which is when SS considers it is no longer necessary for her to be home when the child comes home from school. When her benefit ceases it is added to the children still receiving SS benefits, proportionately.

pr

[brandon-n-lisa]

Phillip,

You could be right. I am just going by what the person at the SS office told me. That may be my first mistake! I guess I should look into it a little further.

[Guest rickb54]

First I am not expert on SSD.

My wife nor my kids received any money from ss when I went on ssd because my kids were in college, or married, and my wife was working.

However I had a close friend who was drawing ssd and his wife and three of his natural children were getting seperate checks. He told me that his stepson did not get a check for two reasons, one he was not living with them, and two he had not adopted him. He also indicated the only reason his wife got a check was because she was a stay at home mother, he said if she was working she got nothing. He said the wife's check would stop when the kids completed High School, and the kids checks stop when they finished college or at age 24, which ever was first.

I think to get a solid answer about this one you mighy have to pick up the phone and ask the question of the experts....

Edited January 24, 2007 by rickb54

[Testvet]

my son was getting a SS check because his step father was retired when I became eligible for SSD, SS told them they had the choice of stopping my sons benefits from his step fathers account and start getting benefits from mine, they only had to see the amount and that was an easy decision, my son now gets a check from my SSD account that is higher than his step fathers SS retirement check

Since my 2 oldest daughters are in their mid 20's and my son is 14 he gets the entire amount the children would be entitled to, which to me is a substanial amount by itself when it started three years ago it was 801 a month, I don't have a clue what it is today, I don't ask, and they don't tell. They have quit asking me for money for shoes and other BS.

The rules are confusing if the children live with you, are you responsible for more than half of their care? If your wife is working it changes things, my wife's full time job is caring for me, trying to hold a "job" would be impossible due to the fact I don't drive, I have to many doctor appts for a Boss to put up with the time she would need off to take me

If your wife is working and makes more than enough money to take your SSD and her income over 32,000 a year then your SSD becomes taxable etc, some veterans choose to file seperate taxes as their income is usually not taxable and let the wife file seperately and take the deductions for the kids, the house payments etc to reduce the tax liability, some vets do it to get the medical care if they are otherwise low income on their own and are not VA rated at 50% or more so they get free medical care because the means tests show they are low income by filing it sepearately, I don't know how that works since it is still a thing based on household income not supposed to be individual but to each their own, they know what they are doing is right or not, and if they are fudging the numbers they can expect to have to pay the piper when it comes due, just my opinion.

I would call SS and give them the facts and ask their advice, given that I will temper it with you don't always get the right answer from government employees, some of them just don't know the rules, kind of like SO's