Ask Mary Jane
Dependent Children General Archive

Q. My son, daughter and I receive Soc. Sec. survivor benefits since my husband's death.  My son will turn 18 in April and will no longer receive a check.  Will my daughter's check increase at that time?  I have a part-time job, but have a $14,000 income limit for my own benefit.  It will be a challenge to stay within that limit and still care for a young child and college student. 

A. Your son will remain eligible for a dependent child benefit until age 18, age 19 if still in high school. When his benefit ends, your caregiver benefit and your daughter's dependent child benefit will increase, but your combined benefits will not be as much as your family now receives.

There is a family maximum payable on any wage earner's Social Security earnings record. The retired and survivor family maximum varies, but ranges from 15o to 180 percent of the deceased wage earner's primary benefit. When there are more than two surviving dependents, the family maximum is divided equally between all eligible beneficiaries. When there are only two eligible dependents, each receives 75 percent of the primary benefit or a combined 150 percent of the primary benefit.

Q. How can my children get all their back pay from social security when mother and father income was combined? Hers started in 1997, his in 2000. There are seven children involved.

A. The best way to assure yourself that your children have received all the benefits they deserve is to request a conference with your local office. Ahead of the conference ask that the office prepare a side-by-side comparison of Benefits Paid and Benefits That Should Have Been Paid for all months the children have been entitled to a benefit. By reviewing the side-by-side you can verify whether all benefits have been paid and, if not, request that the underpayment be corrected.

Effective the month the second parent became entitled to a Social Security benefit, the children's benefits should have been determined by the combined family maximums of both parents. You do not say what type of benefit either parent receives, but you should know that Disability Insurance does not always provide a dependent child benefit and the Disability insurance family maximum benefit is no more than 50 percent of the wage earner's benefit.

Q. My husband who is on disability suffered a mental breakdown and abandoned us! We have three children and each only receive $292.00 a month.   Add to this, he owes an overpayment back to Social Security {$10,000 plus}.

If we divorce, and I have full custody of them, will the children get a higher benefit to help me care for them?  Can we ask for a hardship to reduce the overpayment?  If yes, how can I get help, since each child is having money withheld too?   

A. The Social Security Administration can approve a waiver of repayment of an overpayment if the beneficiary of the overpayment is totally without responsibility for the overpayment. That can be a difficult challenge to overcome, but if the "without fault" criterion is met, a waiver can be granted if repaying the overpayment would leave beneficiaries without resources for basic needs or if requiring repayment would be against equity and good conscience.

In the event of divorce, your children would remain entitled to the same benefits they currently receiving, less any required repayment. The same is true of your husband's benefit unless a court awards you a portion of his benefit. In that case, if your husband did not voluntarily comply with the court order you could seek a second court order garnisheeing a portion of his benefit. That is a matter to discuss with your own legal counsel.

Q. I'm 21 yrs old, single and 9 months pregnant. My baby's father receives Social Security Disability Insurance and SSI. He says our daughter could receive some sort of payment until she is 18 yrs of age. Is this true and if so how do I go about doing this for her?

A. Your daughter may become entitled to a Social Security dependent child benefit but that is not certain. Dependent benefits are not always payable if the wage earner's Disability Insurance benefit is exceptionally low.

After the birth of your daughter, contact the Social Security Administration and apply for a dependent benefit. You will need her birth certificate and her father's name and Social Security account number and he will have to file an affidavit that he is the father. Even if no dependent benefit is payable at this time, you will want to have your daughter's relationship to her father a matter of record in the event of her father's premature death.

Q. My niece's husband, 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 and a half years of Social Security earnings credits. The daughters will be entitled to benefits until age 18 (19 if still in high school). Your niece could receive a caregiver benefit until the youngest daughter reaches age 16.

Q. Please advise if, after the death of a husband, the surviving wife is entitled to receive her deceased husband's full benefit? This was a recent discussion we had today with others.

A. A young 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.

Information about the family benefits Social Security provides can be found at http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10035.html#family.

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 5 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 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.

Unless an International Social Security agreement provides otherwise, 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. 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. With as little as one year of work in the paid labor force, your sister was not insured for benefits.

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 she 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 2008 the average Social Security survivor benefit to a widow with two dependent children is $2,268 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.ssa.gov/pubs/10035.html#family .

Q. The father of my 12-year old daughter is receiving SSI. When we lived together, I believe he got benefits for having a dependant. He has never spent a dime on her. We've been separated for 4 years, with him not having any contact with her or paying any child support of any type. 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 wage 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 to be used for the child.

Q. My Brother is 62 years old and recently qualified for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) 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.

Your brother's former wife is receiving only a payment for the minor child. A divorced spouse is not eligible for a caregiver benefit during the wage earner's lifetime.

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. The Social Security benefit paid to you on behalf of your daughter is 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. Medicare is a social insurance program financed by payroll taxes and Federal general revenue. Medicaid is a medical assistance program administered by the individual states. Your daughter will not become eligible for Medicare.

Q. My husband was collecting disability Social Security for a couple of years and just passed away this week. He was 48. I am 44. Will I as his survivor/widow continue to receive any part of his disability Social Security? I do not have to wait until I am older to receive partial benefits, do I? We have one child who is 18 and no longer receives any of his benefits. We also have a 16-year-old foster daughter for whom we are legal guardians. Can I receive anything of my husband's disability based on caring for her?

A. The Social Security Act provides two kinds of benefits to widows - retirement benefits and caregiver benefits.

Young widows with dependent children in their care receive caregiver benefits until the youngest child reaches age 16. A dependent benefit to a child remains in effect until the child reaches age 18, age 19 if still in high school. A Disabled Adult Child can continue to receive dependent benefits for life if the child is disabled before age 22. A mother caring for a Disabled Adult Child remains entitled to a benefit as long as the child remains in her care.

Other than the caregiver benefit, no monthly benefit is payable to a widow until she reaches retirement age. If you are unmarried, you will be eligible for a widow benefit based on your deceased husband's Social Security earnings record when you reach age 60.

As a disabled widow you would be eligible for a widow benefit as early as age 50. If you remarry after age 60 (50 if disabled) you will remain entitled to a widow benefit based on your first marriage.

Had you adopted your foster daughter, she would be eligible for a Social Security dependent benefit through age 18, age 19 if in high school. Even if she were eligible, you would not be entitled to a caregiver benefit since she is over age 16.

Q. The Department of Child Support Enforcement started garnishing my Social Security Disability Insurance benefit for child support arrears they claim I owed. This began after my son graduated from high school and turned 18. I do not owe child support nor do I owe child support arrears. Can you please help me contact the Social Security Administration to stop this illegal garnishment of my small Social Security Disability benefit?

A. The Social Security Administration is obligated to honor a court order for garnishment of child support. To have the deductions ceased, you will have to petition the issuing court to rescind the order. This is a legal matter that must be resolved in a court.

Q. My husband receives a disability check, also our two-year old son. If I apply for disability and become approved, will this affect my husband's check and what about our son's check?

A. Your eligibility for a Social Security benefit based on your own Social Security earnings record cannot affect your husband's benefit in any way. If you each meet the law's eligibility criteria, each of you is entitled to your full, earned benefit. Your son will continue to be entitled to a benefit based on his father's Social Security earnings record unless a benefit payable on your earnings record or on your combined records would be a greater amount.

Q. Recently I had my Social Security disability hearing with the ALJ. When I filed my claim back in 2005, SSA at that time gave me an amount that my monthly benefit would be as well as the possible amount it would be for my dependant children. My question is if my case is approved will they also give me my back pay for the children who at the time I originally filed were all still under 18 and in school?

A. The fact that your children are no longer under 18 does not cancel their right to dependent benefits for any months they were eligible. If your Disability Insurance claim is approved, you and your children will be entitled to monthly benefits beginning with your sixth full month of disability.

The Disability Insurance family maximum benefit can be as much as 50 percent more than your full benefit. When more than one child is eligible, the benefit payable is divided equally between them. As each child reaches age 18 and is out of high school, the benefit payable is again divided equally. When only one child remains on the benefit rolls, he or she receives the full amount payable. Since your children are now over 18, any retroactive benefits they are entitled to receive will be paid directly to them.

Q. My brother has child support arrears. Can his disability benefits be garnished?

A. Federal payments such as Social Security are subject to garnishment for unpaid alimony and child support.

The individual owed the unpaid support must obtain a court order garnisheeing benefits. The order must be submitted to the Social Security Administration. When it receives the order, the Social Security Administration is required by law to comply.

Q. I am 50 years old and have been on Social Security Disability Insurance for two years. I can't get any benefits for my daughter, who is 14. I receive $621 in SSDI benefits and don't qualify for SSI because my husband is working. I have been a stay at home mom off and on, or just worked part-time before my disability. When I called SSA they said my daughter won't get any benefits because $621 is my maximum and there aren't any more funds left for my daughter (based on my past work history). I am confused, I thought children of disabled parents were entitled to get half of the SSDI amount.

A. Ordinarily an eligible dependent of a Social Security recipient is entitled to a Social Security dependent benefit. However, with Disability Insurance benefits, dependent benefits may not be payable.

There is a family maximum amount payable on any wage earner's Social Security earnings record. For the most part, higher average earnings over a working lifetime provide a higher family maximum. For retirement and survivor benefits, the family maximum ranges from 150 to 180 percent of the wage earner's benefit (i.e. the wage earner receives the 100 percent; eligible dependents receive the percentage provided by law or equally divide the maximum payable between them). Social Security amendments enacted in 1980 reduced the family maximum for Disability Insurance benefits to 80 to 150 percent of the wage earner's benefit. In your case, the 100 percent benefit payable to you as a wage earner is equal to or possibly even greater than the family maximum based on your earnings history. As a result, no benefit is payable to your daughter.

Q. We have parental guardianship of our 12yr old great-granddaughter. My husband is disabled. We live from our Social security. Can our great-granddaughter receive S.S. benefits?

A. An adopted grandchild or great-grandchild can qualify for Social Security dependent benefits. Talk to your own Social Security office representative about your great-granddaughter's eligibility.