I have been receiving SSI since 1995, since I was 21 months old. I'm 27 now and living on my own with my daughter. I recently looked at my benefit letter and saw on there where it says "you are entitled to monthly benefits as a dependent of the wage earner". I don't understand what that means exactly because I'm not a dependent of hers anymore I get $794.00/month for my SSI is that what I should be receiving in the state of Kansas or should I be getting more, or should I be getting a portion of my mother's SSDI? I'm am really confused now because of it saying "you are entitled to monthly benefits as a dependent of the wage earner"? Can you help me figure this out?
Hi. $794 is the current maximum monthly federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) amount. If Social Security has sent you a notice telling you that you may qualify for Social Security benefits based on your mother's record, then you are required to apply for those benefits. If you refused to do so, Social Security would suspend your SSI benefits. SSI is a needs based program, and one of the requirements for eligibility is that recipient's must apply for any other benefits for which they can qualify.
The type of benefit that it sounds like you'll be applying for is a disabled adult child's (DAC) benefit. Biological children are deemed dependent on their natural parents, so you don't need to currently be dependent on your mother to potentially qualify. A person must be unmarried and must have become disabled prior to reaching age 22 in order to potentially qualify for DAC benefits.
Assuming that you do qualify for DAC benefits, your monthly SSI payment amount will be offset by all but the first $20 of your DAC benefit amount. For example, if your monthly DAC benefit rate was $300, your monthly SSI payment amount would be reduced by $280. Thus, you'd then get $300 in monthly Social Security benefits, and $514 (i.e. $794 - $280) per month from SSI. However, if your monthly DAC rate is $814 or more, your SSI payment amount will be reduced to zero.
Best, Jerry
