Ask Mary Jane
Dependent Children General Archive

Q. My niece's husband, age 24, died 10 days ago leaving his wife and two daughters age 5 and 2. He had a regular job. Are there any possible Social Security benefits available for the daughters?

A. As soon as convenient, your niece should call the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213 or call or visit her local Social Security office to apply for a $255 lump sum death benefit and to file an application for monthly benefits for herself and her daughters. She will need her deceased husband's Social Security account number, his death certificate, their marriage certificate and birth certificates for the daughters. She need not wait until all the documents are assembled before starting the application process.

When a wage earner as young as your niece's husband dies, his dependents are insured for survivor benefits if he had as little as one year of Social Security earnings credits. The daughters will be entitled to benefits until age 18 (19 if still in high school). Your niece can receive a caregiver benefit until the youngest daughter reaches age 16.

Q. After the death of a husband, is the surviving wife is entitled to receive her deceased husband's full benefit?

A. A widow with dependent children is entitled to a child-in-care benefit until the youngest child reaches age 16. After child care benefits cease, no additional benefit is payable to the widow until she reaches retirement age. Dependent children are entitled to survivor benefits until age 18; age 19 if still in high school.

A retirement-age widow receives whichever Social Security benefit is the greater amount – her own benefit or the benefit her husband would receive if still alive. If a widow is less than full retirement age when benefits begin, her widow benefit could be reduced for months of early retirement. A widow who has not begun her own benefit before being widowed has the option of which benefit to begin first. She can begin a reduced widow benefit as early as age 60 (50 if she is disabled) and change to her own benefit at full retirement age or later. Her benefit reaches its maximum at age 70. Alternatively, she can wait until age 62 to begin her own reduced benefit and switch to an unreduced widow benefit at full retirement age.

You may be interested in the Social Security administration publication What Every Woman Should Know . It can be found on line at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10127.html.

Q. My grandson lost his Social Security card. How do I go about getting him a new card?

A. Your grandson can be issued a new Social Security card at your local Social Security office. He will need to file a new application for a card and provide proof of his identity and U. S. citizenship or legal resident status. If you are applying on his behalf, in addition to proof of his identity and citizenship or legality, you will need proof or your identity.

Go to http://www.socialsecurity.gov/ss5doc/ for a detailed listing of the types of documents accepted as proof of identity. You can either download the application form or call the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213 or call or visit your local Social Security office to request an application.

Q. I am on Social Security because of my disability. My daughter graduated from High School last June. Does she qualify to continue receiving benefits while she is a full time college student?

A. College-age dependent children of disabled, retired or deceased workers are no longer eligible for benefits. Until 1982, dependent children in full time attendance at a college or accredited vocational school could receive Social Security benefits until age 22. The Budget Act of 1981 phased out that benefit for children already in college and repealed it entirely for those not yet enrolled. Since then, the benefit ends when the child reaches age 18; 19 if still in high school.

Q. I will be 66 in 18 months; my wife will be 42 at that time. We have two children, ages five and seven. Can you estimate what benefits would be for us at my full retirement age and at age 70? If I pass away, what would the benefit be to my wife and children? Assume maximum Social Security tax contributed over 30 years.

A. Your most recent Social Security Statement provides the answer to your questions. If you begin your benefits the month you reach full retirement age, the combined benefits to you and your family will be the maximum family benefit shown on your Statement. You will receive your benefit and the difference between your benefit and the family maximum will be divided equally between your wife and children. When the youngest child reaches age 16, the benefit to your wife will cease and the difference will be divided between the two children. The children's benefits will continue to age 18; 19 if still in high school. The final child on the rolls will receive 50 percent of your age full-retirement-age benefit.

Beginning with the month you reach full retirement age, there is no longer an earnings limitation. Benefits are payable regardless of earnings. Benefits to dependents are always based on the full-retirement-age benefit so there is no advantage to deferring your own benefit once the earnings limitation is no longer a factor. Your best option would be to file for benefits for yourself and family as of January of the year you will become full retirement age. Advise the Social Security Administration of your anticipated annual earnings and they will determine how many months of benefits you can receive before the month you reach full retirement age. If you wish your benefit to grow to the age-70 amount, suspend your own benefit the month it becomes payable. Your wife and children's benefits would continue and your own benefit would earn delayed retirement credits until the month you reach age 70 or until the month you ask that your benefits be put into pay status.

The response to your second question is essentially the same. If there are more than two surviving dependents, the family maximum is the amount payable. Each surviving dependent is entitled to 75 percent of your full benefit. Because three times 75 exceeds the family maximum, each would receive one-third of the amount payable. When the youngest child reaches age 16, your wife's benefit would cease and each child would receive 75 percent of your full benefit until he or she came off the benefit rolls.

Q. I own my own business but it is barely making ends meet. My girlfriend is on Social Security. We want to get married. Can she still get Social Security even if we get married?

A. The answer to your question depends on the type of benefit your girlfriend is receiving. Marriage or remarriage never affects an individual's right to his or her own Social Security benefit whether it is a retirement benefit or a Disability Insurance benefit.

If your girlfriend is receiving a Social Security benefit as a dependent child or Disabled Adult Child of a deceased, retired or disabled parent, marriage is likely to cancel her right to a benefit. In general, a child who marries is no longer a parent's dependent.

Marriage also affects Supplementary Security Income (SSI) benefits. SSI is not Social Security. It is an assistance benefit based on need. When an SSI recipient marries, the income and resources of both husband and wife must be counted in determining need.

Prior to marriage, you and your girlfriend may wish to schedule an appointment at your local Social Security office to discuss her current benefit and how marriage might affect that benefit.

Q. I understand there are people overseas receiving Social Security checks because they were fathered by American men and we the American people are paying the bill. Is that correct? If so why? If this is true, I can understand why the Social Security funds are so low.

A. It is not true. Children fathered by U. S. citizen men, but born outside of marriage, must be legitimized before being eligible for benefits. Even if legitimized, dependent children are entitled to benefits only upon the retirement, death or disability of the parent.

Foreign national spouses or adopted children living outside the United States are ineligible for Social Security benefits unless they have lived in the United States for at least five years in the status that accords them the benefit. Foreign nationals living within the United States must present proof of legal residence before benefits are payable.

Q. My daughter is named as the guardian of our disabled son when we both pass away. Will she be entitled to Social Security as the "guardian" of a disabled child? What will the payments be, if any, in relationship to my present Social Security payments?

A. Social Security provides a benefit to a parent caring for a young dependent child or a disabled adult child entitled to benefits. A guardian or other caregiver is not entitled to a benefit. A surviving disabled adult child is entitled to a benefit equal to 75 percent of the wage earner's Primary Insurance Amount (PIA). A PIA is the monthly benefit a wage earner receives if he or she begins Social Security retirement benefits in the month full retirement age is reached. If you retired earlier or later, call the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213 and ask for your Primary Insurance Amount. That will enable you to determine how much your daughter will receive on your son's behalf when she becomes his guardian.

Q. My sister died last month of a heart attack leaving behind a husband and four children. Her husband worked out of town, but when this happened, he had to take a lower paying job to stay at home with the kids. I called Social Security and they said that the family would receive nothing. I just can't believe they punish all housewives. Isn't there anything that she could receive? It just doesn't sound right.

A. Social Security is an insurance program covering workers and their dependents. With as little as one year of work in the paid labor force, your sister was not insured for benefits. Had your sister earned Social Security work credits equal to one-fourth of the years between age 21 and the year of her death, she would have been insured. Her husband would have received a $255 lump sum death benefit and her children would have been eligible for cash benefits through age 18—through age 19 if still in high school.

Q. I presently receive Social Security benefits for myself and my 16-year-old daughter who will graduate from High School next June. I understand that I can receive Social Security benefits for her as long as she is a full time college student. Is this correct?

A. Your daughter's Social Security dependent child benefit will cease the month she reaches age 18. If she were still in high school the benefit could continue until age 19. Benefits to full time college-age students were eliminated in 1981.

Q. Does my dependant child living with my ex-wife receiving a check from my SS account number affect the amount of my disability check? And where would I find the Information at SSA?

A. You are receiving the full Disability Insurance benefit you are entitled to receive based on your Social Security earnings record. The benefit paid on behalf of your dependent child is an additional benefit. The child's benefit will continue until he or she is age 18; age 19 if still in high school.

The Social Security Administration publication describing dependent child benefits can be found at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10085.html .

Q. Your "Social Security Primer" reads "What workers may not realize is that their payroll taxes entitle their families to survivor's benefits, providing life insurance protection worth over $400,000." Can you please explain this?

A. Since 1940, the Social Security Act has provided survivor benefits to widows and young children upon the death of a wage earner. Benefits also are provided to retirement age widows. Since Social Security is gender neutral, widowers also are protected. Dependent children receive Social Security survivor benefits until the child reaches age 18, age 19 if still in high school. A widow (or widower) caring for a dependent child receives a benefit until the youngest child reaches age 16. In 2007 the average Social Security survivor benefit to a widow with two dependent children is $2,167 per month. The value of this survivor protection is estimated as equivalent to a $400,000 life insurance policy.

You can read about the full extent of survivor benefit protection at http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pubs/10084.html .

Q. The father of my 12-year old daughter is receiving SSI. I believe he gets benefits for having a dependant from when we lived together. We've been separated for 4 years, with him not having any contact with her or paying any child support of any type. He has never spent a dime on her. Can I find out if he's still receiving benefits for a dependent?

A. Is your child's father receiving SSI or Social Security? The names are somewhat similar, but the two are very different. SSI is Supplementary Security Income. It is an assistance benefit payable to aged, disabled or blind individuals with little or no income. SSI does not provide a dependent benefit.

Social Security is a wage replacement benefit payable to disabled or retired wage earners or to the surviving dependents of deceased earners based on earnings from which Social Security FICA taxes were withheld. An additional benefit is payable on behalf of the wage earner's dependent children under age 18 (19 if still in high school). The law requires that any Social Security dependent child benefit payable on a parent's Social Security earnings record must be spent on the dependent child.

If you have reason to believe your child's father is receiving a dependent benefit for his daughter, contact the Social Security Administration. You can call 1-800-772-1213 or your local office. Ask that an appointment be made for you. For the appointment, you will need the father's full name and Social Security account number and your daughter's birth certificate or other verification of paternity. You will want to ask that the Social Security Administration make you representative payee so that the child's benefit can be sent directly to you.

Q. My Brother is 62 years old and recently qualified for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. He has received his first monthly payment. He is divorced and his ex-wife and one minor child will also be receiving a separate monthly payment. His former spouse wants to claim half of his monthly payment to compensate for his non-payment of child support over the last few years. Can she take a portion of his payment as well?

A. Since 1974, child support laws have allowed a portion of Social Security and other Federal payments to be garnisheed for current or retroactive child support or alimony payments. However, the person seeking the payments must obtain a court garnishment order. If a valid order is submitted to the Social Security Administration, the agency must comply.

Q. My husband and I are legally separated, living in different states. We have one minor child. He has applied for disability. He says that my daughter will receive some few hundred dollars a month until she is 18. Will this be taxable income to me? Or taxed to the minor child? He also said she will receive Medicaid. Is that true?

A. Social Security benefits paid to you on behalf of your daughter are your daughter's income. Federal income taxes would be payable on those benefits only if your daughter's income exceeded the taxable thresholds. Your husband will become eligible for Medicare (not Medicaid) after he has received Social Security Disability Insurance benefits for two years. Medicaid is a medical assistance program administered by the individual states. Your daughter will not be eligible for Medicare.