SSDI income stopped my wife's SSI completely - shouldn't she still get partial payments?

The deeming calculations can be really complicated, but here's what might be happening: When you got approved for SSDI, your household income increased. SSI has both an income and resource test. The SSI federal benefit rate for 2025 is $943 for an individual. When they calculate how much your wife can receive, they take into account your SSDI as unearned income, minus various exclusions. Remember there's also the general income exclusion of $20 that applies to unearned income, and the earned income exclusion of $65 plus half of the remainder if either of you has work income. My guess is that after they applied all the formulas and took into account your state's SSI supplement (if any), your wife's countable income exceeded the threshold. I'd recommend requesting a detailed explanation of the calculation from your local SSA office.

The SSI rules are incredibly complex when it comes to family situations. One important thing to check - did your SSDI approval include any back pay? If you received a large lump sum payment of past-due benefits, that could temporarily push your household over the resource limit ($3,000 for a couple in 2025). Also, make sure SSA knows about your ineligible child allocation correctly. Sometimes information doesn't get properly updated in their system. The allocation amount for an ineligible child in 2025 is $471, which should be subtracted from deemed income. Finally, check whether your wife has any separate resources that might have put her over the limit once your income changed. Even a small bank account balance combined with the new SSDI could affect eligibility.

Have you tried calling the SSA to get a detailed explanation? I had similar issues last year and couldn't get through to anyone for weeks. I finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an SSA agent in about 20 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU The agent I spoke with was able to pull up my file and explain exactly how they calculated my benefits and what was causing the issue. In my case, they had incorrect information about my living arrangement that was affecting my payment amount. Getting that detailed breakdown made all the difference in resolving it.

The SSA is ALWAYS trying to cut people off benefits!!! They did the same thing to my sister when her husband got disability. They said she wasn't eligible anymore even though their combined income was still below poverty level. It took MONTHS to fix and they never gave her backpay for the missed months. The system is rigged against us!!

just wanna say congrats on getting approved for SSDI! that process is brutal. when my wife's ssi changed we had to bring in all our paperwork and sit with a claims specialist who showed us the exact calculation. def worth doing in person if you can

I'm going through something similar with my husband's benefits! The SSA representative told me that when they do the calculations for couples, they also look at the living expenses and household costs. Do you and your wife share all expenses equally? If the SSA thinks your SSDI is covering most of her living expenses, they might reduce her SSI more significantly. At least that's what they told me, though honestly I'm still confused about the whole thing...

Update after reading all comments: Based on the information provided, here are the steps I recommend: 1. Request a detailed written explanation of the suspension calculation from SSA 2. Specifically ask them to explain how they applied the ineligible child allocation in the deeming process 3. Check if any SSDI backpay pushed you temporarily over resource limits 4. Verify that SSA has correct information about your household composition and living arrangements 5. If you believe there's an error after reviewing their calculation, file a Request for Reconsideration (Form SSA-561) within 60 days of the suspension notice The difference between $1,640 and $1,907 should leave room for some SSI payment unless there are other factors not mentioned.

My mom gets both SSDI and SSI and they're always messing up her payments. One thing to check - did they count your SSDI as earned income instead of unearned? That happened to us once and it completely threw off the calculation. Also make sure they're using the correct federal benefit rate for a couple vs individual if you're both on benefits.

when did ur wife's ssi stop? sometimes there's a delay in how they process everything and they might have just suspended it temporarily while they recalculate. my benefits got suspended for 2 months then came back at a lower amount without any explanation