Child benefits after high school graduation - SSA says my daughter eligible for additional SS benefits with form 1372?

This actually makes perfect sense once you understand how child's benefits work across different parental records. When your daughter was receiving benefits on your husband's record, those ended at graduation as expected. But when YOU filed with 6 months retroactive benefits, that creates a NEW potential entitlement for your daughter that partially overlaps with her final months of high school. The Form 1372 is needed because they need to verify she was actually attending school during those retroactive months that your benefits now cover (likely January-June 2023). Since your retroactive benefits go back 6 months from March 2024, that would be around September 2023, which overlaps with some of her school attendance. You should definitely pursue this! She's entitled to those additional funds based on your earnings record for the period where your retroactive benefits overlap with her school attendance.

Wait I'm confused. If the daughter already got benefits from the husband's record for the same time period, how can she get MORE benefits for the same months??? That doesn't make any sense to me. My kids only got benefits from one parent (me) and SSA never mentioned anything about my husband's record too. Something sounds wrong here.

my daughter went through this exact thing!!! except it was me who filed and my husband who had been collecting. you absolutely should pursue this!! they actually owed my daughter almost $2400 in back payments for the difference between what she got on my husband's record vs what she would have gotten on mine (mine was higher). don't leave that money on the table!!

Call the high school admin office. They deal with these forms ALL THE TIME for former students. Trust me, you're not the first person to need a Form 1372 after graduation. Just explain the situation and they'll know exactly what to do. Most schools keep these records electronically now anyway.

I just want to add that I've been through EXACTLY this hassle with SSA. Calling them directly is a nightmare - I wasted 3 days trying and either got disconnected or was on hold for 3+ hours. I finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to an agent in under 15 minutes. They have a video demo of how it works at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU - total lifesaver when dealing with complex benefit questions like this that you need to talk to an actual human about.

This is actually a textbook example of what's called the "Child's Insurance Benefit differential payment." When a child is eligible for benefits on more than one parent's record, they receive the higher of the two potential benefit amounts. In your case, your retroactive filing created a new comparison period. Here's what's happening: 1. Your daughter received X amount monthly on your husband's record 2. Your record might have entitled her to Y amount monthly 3. If Y > X, she's eligible for the difference (Y-X) for each month where both entitlements overlap The Form 1372 is absolutely required because they need to verify full-time school attendance for any months after age 18 but before graduation. Even if she already submitted this for your husband's record, they need it again for your record because it's technically a separate benefit calculation. Definitely contact her high school - they maintain these records for years and have procedures for completing this paperwork for graduated students.

THIS IS WHY I HATE DEALING WITH SSA!!! Nobody ever explains these weird rules until AFTER the fact. How are regular people supposed to know all these complicated policies?? And then they make you jump through a million paperwork hoops to get what you're entitled to. SO FRUSTRATING!!!

Update: I called my daughter's high school and they were super helpful! Turns out they get these requests all the time. I just need to bring the form to the main office with her student ID number, and they'll complete it on the spot. Going to do that tomorrow and then submit it to SSA. Thank you all for convincing me to follow through with this. Will post another update when I find out how much additional benefit she's entitled to!

This is such a great example of why it's worth following up on these SSA contacts even when they seem confusing! I had a similar situation with my son where I almost ignored a letter from SSA because it seemed like a mistake. Turns out they owed us over $1,800 in back benefits I never knew we were entitled to. The paperwork was a pain, but totally worth it. Good luck with the school visit tomorrow - sounds like you're all set!

As someone who works in benefits administration, I want to emphasize how important it is to pursue this! The differential payment system is one of the most misunderstood aspects of Social Security child benefits. What's happening here is completely legitimate - your daughter isn't getting "double benefits" but rather getting adjusted to the higher benefit amount she was always entitled to. The timing makes perfect sense too. When you filed with retroactive benefits, it triggered a review of all potential child beneficiaries during that retroactive period. The system automatically flagged that your daughter might be entitled to a higher benefit amount on your record compared to what she received on your husband's record. Don't let the paperwork intimidate you - Form 1372 is standard procedure and schools handle these requests routinely. The key thing is that SSA reached out to YOU, which means their system has already identified a potential overpayment situation in your favor. That's money your family is legally entitled to, so definitely follow through!

I'm in a very similar situation right now! My daughter graduated last year and I just filed for my own benefits a few months ago. SSA called me last week about the exact same thing - Form 1372 and potential additional benefits on my record. I was so confused because like you, she already got benefits on my ex-husband's record until graduation. Reading through all these responses has been incredibly eye-opening. I had no idea about this differential payment system! It sounds like this is actually pretty common when one parent files later than the other. I'm definitely going to call her high school tomorrow too - seems like they're used to handling these forms for graduated students. Thanks for posting about this! Without seeing your question and everyone's helpful responses, I probably would have just ignored SSA's call thinking it was some kind of mistake. Now I realize I could be leaving money on the table for my daughter. Really appreciate everyone sharing their experiences here!