My husband passed away in 2004 suddenly from septis. I was already on disability for a rare disease since 1998, and my daughter and son before my husband passed away was receiving a check each month of my Disability. When my son turned 18 his check stopped and so did my daughter,s. I moved back home and took her to get her GED, but the man said she was below grade level, and that was the end of that when she heard that. At that time everyone was bio-polar, but to make a long story short, she is receiving SSI because she was bi-polar. She has had only 1 elvaluation, and that had to be in 2005, I was her payee until she got the mail and her loser no more boyfriend took her not to a local SS office. But she is making only $200 less than me. I And it,s not under her social security number, it,s under my husbands. Does that seem right or fair. Is something wro,g there? Thank you for any help.

Hi. I'm sorry for your loss. As long as your daughter has never married and if she became disabled prior to age 22, then she's likely eligible for disabled adult child's (DAC) benefits. DAC benefits are based on 75% of the deceased parent's primary insurance amount (PIA). And, if your daughter's income and assets including her DAC benefits are low enough to meet the requirements, she may qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments. SSI is a needs based program designed for people who are either blind, disabled or at least age 65, and it can supplement any other income that they may have up to a current monthly maximum of $794.

I have no way of knowing whether or not the amounts that you and your daughter are receiving are correct. That would depend mainly on your and your husband's earnings histories. From what you've stated, though, if you are at least age 50 it sounds like you might be able to qualify for disabled widow's benefits (DWB) if your husband's PIA is higher than your own PIA. So, if you are at least age 50 and if you aren't already receiving DWB benefits then you may want to check with Social Security to see if you qualify.

Best, Jerry