Social Security Family Maximum confusion with disabled adult child and child-in-care spousal benefits - smaller payments than expected

Yes, the Family Maximum Benefit (FMB) is definitely what's affecting your benefits here. To answer your questions directly: 1) Yes, your husband's retirement benefit DOES count against the Family Maximum calculation 2) It's his actual reduced benefit amount that counts, not his PIA The FMB is typically between 150-180% of the worker's PIA. Since your husband took benefits early, his reduced amount counts toward this cap, but the cap itself is still calculated based on his PIA. This often creates a situation where auxiliary beneficiaries (you and your son) receive less than you might expect. Have you considered whether you might qualify for benefits on your own record instead? That wouldn't be subject to the family maximum on your husband's record.

had the SAME ISSUE with my grandkids!!! the family max is a KILLER and they dont explain it well at all!! the social security people never mentioned it to me until AFTER everything was approved and the checks started coming. so frustrating!!!

I'd like to add a bit more technical detail on how the Family Maximum Benefit (FMB) calculation works, as it can be confusing. The FMB formula has four "bend points" and is calculated using the worker's Primary Insurance Amount (PIA). It's typically between 150-188% of the worker's PIA, depending on their earning history. When a worker files early, their own reduced benefit is counted first against the maximum. Then, any remaining amount in the "family pool" is divided proportionally among auxiliary beneficiaries (your child-in-care spousal benefit and your son's disabled adult child benefit). So yes, your husband's benefit counts against the maximum, and it's his actual reduced amount that's counted. This leaves less in the family benefit pool to be divided between you and your son. To verify all this is correct, you should request a detailed explanation of your benefit calculation from your local SSA office. They can provide a breakdown showing exactly how the FMB was applied in your specific situation.

The whole benefits system is DESIGNED to be confusing and shortchange families! I went through something similar when my sister's disability benefits were cut because my dad started collecting. We never got a straight answer from anyone at SS and spent hours on hold only to be told different things by different agents. The whole system seems rigged to pay out as little as possible to families.

I dealt with a similar situation last year. One thing that helped me was calling SSA directly to get a detailed breakdown of the Family Maximum calculation. However, I spent 3 weeks trying to reach someone who could actually explain it properly! I finally had success using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an SSA agent quickly. Their service connected me to SSA without the usual 2+ hour wait. Totally worth checking out their video demo (https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU) to see how it works. The agent I reached was able to provide a complete breakdown of how our family maximum was calculated and even found a small error in my son's benefit amount that was later corrected. Regarding your situation, I'd specifically ask for a "PEBES query" which shows the breakdowns of the PIA and family maximum calculations. Sometimes seeing the actual numbers helps make sense of why the benefits are lower than expected.

So Im in a slightly different but similar situation with disabled adult son and understanding the family maximum. Husband can file in 2 years and I'm wondering if we should delay his filing to maximize benefits for our son. Does anyone know if delaying the primary earner's benefits affects how much the disabled adult child would get, or is DAC benefit always 50% of PIA regardless of when primary files?

Whenever I call social security its a nightmare!!! waited 3 hours last time before I hung up. Anybody found a way to actually talk to a real person there without wasting your whole day??

Quick update after speaking with SSA (finally got through!): The agent confirmed that my husband's reduced benefit is counting against the Family Maximum, which is why our son's DAC benefit and my child-in-care spousal benefit are both reduced. The agent explained that the Family Maximum is approximately 175% of my husband's PIA in our case. Since he took retirement 2 years early, his benefit is reduced to about 87% of his PIA. This means our son and I are splitting the remaining portion of the maximum (about 88% of PIA), and it's being divided proportionally between us. I also learned that if I were to wait until my FRA to claim regular spousal benefits (not child-in-care), my benefit would increase, but our son's would decrease further to stay within the maximum. The whole system seems designed to keep families from receiving full benefits! Thank you all for your help in understanding this complex issue.