My brother is collecting his social security disability benefits. He has moved in with our parents which are 85 and 78 years of age and mother has dementia and father has heart problems to take care of them. He has not been accepting any income for his assistance but my father is willing to pay him but my brother is unsure of the rules of accepting money on the side that it does not interfere with his disability check..Can you explain to me how this works and what are the limits of additional monthly pay?
Thank you for your help in this matter. Pam

Hi Pam,

Money that your parents give your brother for taking care of them wouldn't have any adverse effect on his Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits. It would, however, likely reduce his payments if he's receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which is the needs based program administered by Social Security.

If your brother went to work for wages of if he was self-employed, he could generally earn up to $1260 per month without affecting his SSDI benefits. But acting as a caregiver for your parents in their home would not be classified as either wages or self-employment as long as it's not done in the course of a trade or business.

Best, Jerry