How to Insure Your Income: Other Eligibility Issues
The Social Security Administration uses a very strict definition of work disability -- inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity because of a medically determinable impairment expected to last 12 months or result in death.
If you are disabled and your spouse suffers an attendant loss in income, your spouse is entitled to benefits in much the same way, with the same method of qualification, benefit amounts, etc. This works much like eligibility for retirement and survivors benefits does.
Example: A spouse of a disabled worker is eligible for benefits if the worker achieves eligibility, an application for benefits has been submitted, the spouse is not eligible for a disability benefit equal to or larger than the worker's PIA, and the spouse is under age 62 or has a minor child under the age of 16. These are the same as spousal requirements for retirement benefits.
In addition, the spouse must have been married to the disabled worker for at least one year prior to the submission of the disability claim and/or be the biological mother of the minor child.
A divorced spouse also is eligible for benefits relative to a disabled worker. Essentially, the same eligibility requirements apply as would apply to a divorced spouse claiming retirement benefits.
As is true with retirement benefit claims, the divorced spouse must have been married to the disabled worker for at least 10 years prior to the date on which the divorce became final and currently must be single.
The spouse's (or divorced spouse's) benefit is equal to one-half of the worker's PIA and subject to the family maximum.
Dependent children of a disabled worker also may be eligible for benefits if certain requirements are satisfied. These requirements include the following:
- the child is dependent on the disabled worker -- which generally means that the child is under age 18;
- the child is not married; and
- an application for a child's benefit has been submitted.
A disabled child of a disabled parent may receive benefits past age 22 if the child's disability began prior to age 22.
These same eligibility requirements apply to situations involving grandchildren or stepchildren. Again, this is similar to the survivor benefit qualifications already discussed.
The disability benefit for a child of a disabled parent is equal to one-half of the parent's PIA and subject to the family maximum benefit. Also, a child will lose benefits due to excess earnings -- as is true with survivor or retirement benefits.
The following chart reviews the Social Security benefits in relation to the worker's PIA:
| Social Security Benefit | Equal to |
| Worker's Retirement | 100% of the PIA |
| Widow's Benefit | 71.5% of the PIA |
| Worker's Disability Benefit | 100% of the PIA |
| Dependent Spouse | 50% of the PIA |
| Dependent Child(ren) | 50% of the PIA |
All dependent benefits are subject to the family maximum benefit -- which is approximately 20 percent greater than the benefit equal to the PIA.
All benefits are subject to periodic increases due to changes in the cost of living. The worker's benefit, as well as dependent benefits, may be increased annually in accordance with the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, which is prepared by the Department of Labor each year.
In certain cases, non-family third parties may receive Social Security disability benefits.
Example: A disabled worker has an established history of substance abuse problems. In fact, they are the cause of the disability. The Social Security Administration may choose to send the benefit checks to a representative payee. If it does this, it must notify the disabled worker that benefits will be paid in the indirect manner.
Social Security prefers to pay these benefits to a local social services agency or governmental body, which will manage the benefits for the worker. In some cases, though, it will allow a private-sector organization or another person to receive the check.
In the early 1990s, the press reported several situations in which small-town pubs and liquor stores had been named as representative payees for disabled workers. This bad publicity is another reason that the Social Security Administration has clamped down on what groups or people can qualify.
