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Social Security Administration Insurance Benefits for Children
There seems to be a general amount of confusion about the benefits that are offered to children of disabled workers. Who is entitled to childs insurance benefits? Does the parents Social Security Disability Insurance benefit increase when the child reaches the age of maturity? How much are the children entitled to receive? This blog is going to answer the most common questions related to what the Social Security Administration calls auxiliary benefits.Who is entitled to childs insurance benefits (auxiliary benefits)?
When we discuss a childs insurance benefit we are specifically talking about children who are the dependents of workers who have worked and earned sufficient work credits to receive either Social Security Disability Insurance or Social Security Retirement benefits. Auxiliary benefits are not offered to disabled claimants receiving Supplemental Security Income benefits.
Children may qualify for a childs insurance benefit if the following conditions have been met:
- The disabled worker has filed the application for the childs benefit.
- The child is considered the dependent of the disabled worker.
- The child is not married.
- The child is under the age of 18 or they are 18-19 years of age and attending either an elementary or secondary school or if they are over the age of 18 they became disabled prior to the age of 22.
- The parent is either entitled to receive SSDI benefits or SSA retirement benefits or they are deceased but they were considered fully insured at the time of their death.
Note: Some SSDI recipients may not have earned enough work credits to receive auxiliary benefits for their children. Contact the SSA to find out if you qualify. According to the SSA, a general rule is if the parent has worked at least 10 years they should be able to obtain SSDI benefits for their children when and if they become disabled (exceptions exist for younger workers who may not need to work that long) .
Does the parents Social Security Disability Insurance benefit increase when the child reaches the age of maturity?
The second most common question we get on our forum is whether or not a disabled workers Social Security Disability Insurance benefit will automatically increase when the child reaches age 18 or 19 and is no longer receiving an auxiliary payment.
Unfortunately, no, Social Security Disability Insurance claimants have been receiving their maximum payment, even if the Social Security Administration was also paying auxiliary benefits to their qualifying dependents. This means that if the Social Security Administration stops paying the auxiliary benefit, they do not increase the Social Security Disability Insurance payment for the claimant.
How much are my childs Social Security Administration auxiliary benefits?
According to the Social Security Administration, within a family, a child may receive up to one-half of the parents full retirement or disability benefit, or 75 percent of the deceased parents basic Social Security benefit.
Now, if the there are several children in the family the Social Security Administration may limit the total amount of money paid to the family. There is a very specific computation done by the Social Security Administration which according to them limits the amount to 150 to 180 percent of the parents full benefit amount. If the amount must be limited because it is more than the allowable limit, the Social Security Administration will reduce each childs payment until it reaches the allowable payment amount.
Keep in mind, if you have children and you are receiving Social Security Disability Insurance, if you contributed enough in employment taxes, your children may be entitled to auxiliary benefits. The SSA should notify you of this benefit at the time you are approved, but if they do not, contact them and ask them if your children are entitled to auxiliary benefits.
Related articles
- Can I receive disability from the Social Security Administration if my spouse works? (disabilitybenefitshome.com)
- Steps to get Social Security Administration Disability Benefits (disabilitybenefitshome.com)
- Can I work and get disability benefits? (disabilitybenefitshome.com)
