{"id":1759,"date":"2011-08-20T08:20:38","date_gmt":"2011-08-20T15:20:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.johntnicholson.com\/ohiolawblog\/?p=820"},"modified":"2011-08-20T08:20:38","modified_gmt":"2011-08-20T15:20:38","slug":"does-my-income-affect-my-childs-ability-to-qualify-for-social-security-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/henryclarke.co\/law-office\/does-my-income-affect-my-childs-ability-to-qualify-for-social-security-benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"Does my income affect my child’s ability to qualify for Social Security Benefits?"},"content":{"rendered":"

How much income can parents have before their children no longer qualify for Supplemental Security Income benefits?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Disabled children can qualify for benefits under the Supplemental Security Income (\u201cSSI\u201d) program, which is administered by the Social Security Administration, depending: (1) on the nature of their disabilities; (2) on how much income they have (if any); and (3) on their available resources. Children\u2019s \u201cavailable resources\u201d include the income (and assets) of their parents and guardians. Therefore, many parents and guardians of disabled children wonder how much income they can have before their children no longer qualify for SSI benefits.<\/p>\n

The Social Security Administration (\u201cSSA\u201d) defines a child<\/a> as someone who is not married; is not head of a household; and is under age 18, or is under age 22 and regularly attending school. This discussion only applies to SSI benefits for disabled children, as the SSA defines the terms \u201cdisabled\u201d and \u201cchildren.\u201d<\/p>\n

1. Nature of disability. According to the definition<\/a> established by the applicable laws and regulations, a child is \u201cdisabled\u201d if the child \u201chas a medically determinable physical or mental impairment, which results in marked and severe functional limitations, and which can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months.\u201d In other words, a child is disabled for purposes of SSI benefits if the child has a very serious medical condition that will last (or has lasted) for at least one year. For example, a child who suffers from cystic fibrosis could qualify for SSI benefits. A child with a minor broken leg, but who did not otherwise have a serious medical condition, would probably not qualify.<\/p>\n

2. Child\u2019s income (if any). In terms of a child\u2019s income, a child may not earn more than $1,000.00 per month from employment and still qualify to receive SSI benefits (in 2011; the limit on a child\u2019s total monthly income changes every year). On the other hand, a child who is unemployed, or who is employed but earns less than $1,000.00 per month (in 2011), would meet the income limit.<\/p>\n

3. Income and resources (i.e. assets) of parents or guardians. The determination of a child\u2019s eligibility to receive SSI benefits also takes into account<\/p>\n

Income, in this context, comes in two varieties: \u201cearned income\u201d and \u201cunearned income.\u201d Earned income consists of \u201cwages from employment, net earnings from self-employment, certain royalties and honoraria, and sheltered workshop payments.\u201d Unearned income consists of money received from other sources, \u201csuch as Social Security benefits, pensions, state disability payments, unemployment benefits, interest income, and cash from friends and relatives.\u201d Some income is exempt and does not count toward the applicable limits. The following chart illustrates the income limits currently applicable in many (but not all) circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n

Number of Ineligible Children in Household<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

All Income is Earned<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

All Income is Unearned<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

One Parent in Household<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Two Parents in Household<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

One Parent in Household<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Two Parents in Household<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$2,821<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$3,495<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$1,388<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$1,725<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

1<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$3,158<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$3,832<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$1,725<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$2,062<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

2<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$3,495<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$4,169<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$2,062<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$2,399<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

3<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$3,832<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$4,506<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$2,399<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$2,736<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

4<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$4,169<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$4,843<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$2,736<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$3,073<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

5<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$4,506<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$5,180<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$3,073<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$3,410<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

6<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$4,843<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

%5,517<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$3,410<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

$3,747<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

By \u201cresources,\u201d the SSA essentially means property. For instance, resources include bank accounts, cash, life insurance, real estate, stocks, U.S. savings bonds, vehicles and other property belonging to a child\u2019s parents or guardians that could be exchanged for cash and used for food or shelter. <\/a>Some resources,<\/a> such as a home, household goods and personal effects, and money in pension funds, are exempt and do not count toward the applicable limits. Currently, the applicable resource limit (for non-exempt resources) is $2,000 for a single parent or guardian, and $3,000.00 for a couple.<\/p>\n

To summarize: A disabled child\u2019s eligibility for SSI benefits depends upon the nature of the child\u2019s disability, the amount of income that the child earns (if any), and the income and resources available to the child\u2014including resources available through parents and guardians. Regarding the resources of parents and guardians, the limits vary from case to case depending on the circumstances. The income limits listed in the foregoing chart, and the resource limits discussed above, might or might not apply in a specific situation because of the many rules and regulations, as well as exemptions, that govern SSI eligibility for disabled children. If you are the parent or guardian of a disabled child and would like to learn more about SSI eligibility, then talk with a lawyer with experience dealing with Social Security issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How much income can parents have before their children no longer qualify for Supplemental Security Income benefits? Disabled children can qualify for benefits under the Supplemental Security Income (\u201cSSI\u201d) program, which is administered by the Social Security Administration, depending: (1) on the nature of their disabilities; (2) on how much income they have (if any); […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1035,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[436,516],"class_list":["post-1759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-security-ssdssi","tag-parents-income-child-disability","tag-ssi-child"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/henryclarke.co\/law-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/henryclarke.co\/law-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/henryclarke.co\/law-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/henryclarke.co\/law-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/henryclarke.co\/law-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/henryclarke.co\/law-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/henryclarke.co\/law-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/henryclarke.co\/law-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/henryclarke.co\/law-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/henryclarke.co\/law-office\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}