Planning for Adult Children with Disabilities

Planning for Adult Children with Disabilities

Childhood Disability Benefits assist disabled children and adults who became disabled prior to age 22. Most begin with Supplemental Security Income, which is a monthly cash payment for individuals with limited income and few resources. Because a parent’s income and resources are usually deemed available to the child, SSI usually begins after the child is 18 years old; deeming from the parent stops when a child attains age 18, marries, or no longer lives with a parent.

After the child’s parent either begins drawing Social Security or dies, the child can draw Social Security Disability (SSDI) based on the parent’s work record. A parent is a natural parent, adoptive parent, or stepparent. A child is neither married, nor the head of a household and is either under age 18 or is under age 22 and is a student regularly attending school, college, or training that is designed to prepare them for a paying job. Usually, the application for child’s insurance benefits is done on Form SSA-4-BK.

Prior to the parent’s death, the child can draw one-half of the amount of the parent’s Social Security payment. After the parent dies, the amount paid to the child increases to seventy-five percent of what the parent would have draw.

In SSI-States, individuals who receive SSI also receive Medicaid. The benefit continues even if the child loses SSI after he or she begins drawing SSDI based on the parent’s work record. Further, two years after the child begins receiving SSDI, he or she is eligible for Medicare.