Family Benefits Under Social Security Disability: What Are They?

Qualifying for Social Security Disability is something you can do if you have become disabled and are unable to work. Qualifying for yourself is one thing, but what you may not realize is that some of your family members may also qualify for disability benefits if you are receiving them. There are very specific situations in which this may occur and it is quite possible that your family members should be receiving benefits. If you are unsure about how the process works, simply consider the following information. Disability benefits may be able to assist you with your financial needs.

What Are the Types of Benefits?

Individuals who qualify for disability benefits receive an income or monthly payment from the SSA. These individuals are unable to work, or are unable to work in such a way as to support themselves. If you qualify for disability, this means that your physical condition is in some way limited. Your family, then, may be in need of additional financial support since you are unable to provide it. Because of your condition, your family members may also qualify for benefits from the SSA. However, there are limits and other steps that need to be taken to make this happen.

Who Is Your Family?

Not everyone living with you will qualify for disability. Although you may have numerous people counting on you to provide for them, only a select few will qualify under the SSA's guidelines for family benefits. These include:

Your spouse will qualify for benefits.
If you are divorced, your ex-spouse is likely to qualify unless he or she has remarried or does not meet the requirement of the SSA.
Your children will qualify, usually until they reach 18 years of age.
If you have a disabled child, he or she also qualifies.
If you have these members in your family, it may be beneficial to encourage them to apply for disability benefits under the family benefits plan offered by the SSA. Keep in mind that there may be additional qualifying members, such as children you have adopted. If you are unsure whether a family member qualifies, simply request additional information from the SSA or discuss your options with a disability attorney.

What Benefits Are Available?

Simply qualifying for disability benefits is not sufficient. Rather, it is important to know how much can be received. Unfortunately, this is a set number and is based on a variety of factors. The first factor is the amount of money you are receiving. Keep in mind that your family members will each receive their own benefits check from the SSA. In doing so, the family members will be able to use those funds as needed. The family member does not receive a portion of your disability insurance, but the amount he or she does receive is based on the amount of your benefits.

Each family member may receive up to 50 percent of the disability rate you are receiving. If you are earning $1000, for example, each family member may be eligible up to 50 percent of that, or up to $500. However, the Social Security Disability benefits also factors in how many family members are receiving disability payments and the total amount received. There is a limit to the amount the SSA will pay out to your family.

What does this mean for your family? The total amount that is paid out in family benefits will be unique to your family, based on your circumstances. However, in general, the total amount of money received by your family members will be about 50 to 80 percent of your disability benefit. Going back to the earlier example, if you qualify for benefits of $1000 per month, the combined total for benefits for your family will be between $500 and $800 per month. In some situations, it may be less than this, too. In situations where the sum of the benefits is more than the family limit in place, the benefits to each family member will be reduced along the same scale.

Keeping this in mind, Social Security Disability benefits like this should be applied for by each member of your family. You will need to provide the SSA with your Social Security numbers, birth certificates and marriage licenses, as they apply, to help determine the amount each family member will receive. The process of determining the value of family benefits seems difficult, but the SSA will handle the processing for you.

Social Security Disability
Disability Benefits

What to Do If Your Social Security Disability Benefits Are Under Review

Oftentimes, when people are approved for Social Security Disability benefits, they feel that the battle is over. They are under the assumption that those benefits will continue for as long as they need them. The fact of the matter is that Social Security Disability benefits are reviewed on a regular basis. How often they are reviewed and what happens during the review process depends on a number of factors. If you've been approved for Social Security Disability benefits and are wondering exactly how the review process will affect your future benefits, there are a few things you need to know.

Review Periods

The Social Security Administration reviews all disability benefits recipients on a regular basis. The period between Social Security Disability reviews will depend on your specific medical condition and whether or not improvement is expected. If you receive disability benefits and improvement of your condition is expected, the SSA will usually review your case within 18 months. If improvement is possible but cannot be predicted, your case is likely to be reviewed every three years. If improvement of your disability is not expected, you can expect a disability review once every seven years.

Notification of a Review

If your Social Security Disability benefits are being reviewed, you will receive a written notice. Disability recipients will normally receive a notice in the mail asking whether or not medical treatment has been received during the past two years, whether or not you feel better than you did two years ago, whether or not you have discussed your ability to work with your doctor and whether your doctor has cleared you to work. You will also be asked if you engaged in any work activity during the last two years. The answers to these questions will impact the outcome of the review.

Are Your Benefits at Risk?

Individuals receiving disability benefits often worry that their benefits are at risk when they go under review. This is not necessarily the case. The SSA must have evidence proving that your case has improved in order to stop benefits. If this evidence does not exist, the chances of your Social Security Disability benefits being revoked are slim to none. If, for some reason, the SSA does decide that you are no longer entitled to Social Security Disability benefits, you will be given notice of this finding.

Your Appeal Options

In most cases, if you are still unable to work, the SSA will not revoke your disability benefits. If they do decide to stop your benefits, your Social Security Disability payments will not stop immediately. You will still receive Social Security Disability payments for a period of two months. This will give you time to find employment to cover future expenses.

If you really cannot work and feel the decision to revoke your benefits was wrong, you have the right to appeal the decision. It is very important to understand that time is of the essence when filing your appeal. You technically have sixty days to file the appeal, but if you file within ten days your Social Security Disability benefits will continue while the appeal is under review. You need to understand, however, that if you file an appeal within ten days and the appeal is denied, you will be responsible for paying back any benefits that you received during the appeal process.

The Appeal Process

During the appeal process you will be entitled to have a face-to-face interview with an employee at the Social Security office. This person is not an Administrative Law Judge. Many people who are appealing revoked disability benefits assume that this hearing will be like the appeal hearing of an initial Social Security Disability application. However, it is more informal and, at this stage, your appeal will not be heard by a judge.

If you have your face-to-face meeting and Social Security still upholds the decision to revoke your benefits, you can ask to appear before an Administrative Law Judge. At that point, you may wish to have legal representation with you. Your chances of winning your case will increase with legal representation at this stage of the appeal process.

Again, it is important to remember that most people do not have to worry about the review process. The SSA routinely reviews all disability cases and most of the people receiving disability benefits will not have their benefits revoked. If you do receive a letter from the SSA stating that your benefits will be discontinued, keep the above advice in mind and, if you feel the decision was unjust, file an appeal.

Social Security Disability

Disability Claim