Social Security children's benefits for non-custodial parent - who gets the money?

The additional money goes to the custodial parent as your child's representative payee. Your ex will receive the payment on behalf of your child since she has primary custody. This doesn't reduce your benefit amount at all - it's an additional benefit your child is entitled to because you're receiving Social Security retirement. Your child can receive up to 50% of your full retirement benefit amount (not your reduced amount), but there's a family maximum that might come into play if there are other dependents claiming on your record. The child's benefit doesn't affect your payment amount whatsoever.

my kid got benefits when i retired and yeah the money goes to whoever has custody. its bc the money is FOR THE KID not for you. the ssa doesnt care about your child support situation thats a seperate thing with the courts

THIS IS WHY THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN!! I went through EXACTLY this garbage. My ex got the kids' benefits AND I still had to pay full child support. Had to fight it in court for MONTHS to get it adjusted. SSA doesn't automatically tell child support enforcement about these benefits - they operate in completely different systems!!

To clarify some confusion here: In many states, your child support obligation CAN be reduced by the amount of Social Security benefits your child receives due to your retirement. However, this isn't automatic - you need to petition the family court that handles your child support order. The laws vary by state, but most courts will consider the Social Security benefits as satisfying part of your support obligation. The process typically involves: 1. Getting documentation from SSA showing the benefit amount your child receives 2. Filing a motion to modify child support with your family court 3. Attending a hearing where the judge will determine the new support amount It's important to do this promptly after benefits begin - courts generally won't retroactively reduce support for periods before you filed your motion.

My neighbor just went thru this. His son got almost $800 from social security when he retired but the court only lowered his child support by like half that amount. Judge said something about the kid's "standard of living" should improve when parent retires? Didn't make sense to me but that's what happened

I've been trying to get through to SSA for 3 weeks about this exact situation!!! They keep disconnecting me after I wait on hold for an hour. So frustrating when you're trying to plan your retirement and can't get simple answers about how things work.

one thing nobody mentioned yet is that the kids benifit only lasts until they turn 18 (or 19 if still in highschool). so dependin how old ur kid is it might not be for very long anyway

One more important thing to consider: The benefit your child can receive is based on your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), which is what you would receive at your Full Retirement Age. Since you're claiming at 62, your personal benefit is reduced, but your child still gets up to 50% of your FULL benefit amount. For example, if your full retirement age benefit would be $2,000, but you're taking a reduced benefit of $1,400 at age 62, your child could still receive up to $1,000 (50% of $2,000), subject to family maximum limits. This is why it's especially important to apply for the child's benefit when you retire - they may receive more than you think.

After you file for your retirement benefits, you'll need to apply separately for your child's benefits - it's not automatic! In my experience, the best approach is to: 1. Gather your child's birth certificate and Social Security card 2. Get documentation showing custody arrangement (court order) 3. Call SSA and make an appointment specifically for applying for child's benefits 4. At the appointment, make sure they process both your retirement AND the child's benefit Doing this correctly from the start saved me a lot of headaches later. And yes, as others mentioned, once benefits start, take that documentation to family court to adjust your support obligation.