Social Security dependent benefit calculation when disabled adult child gets SSI and parent's retirement benefits
I have a 28-year-old son with developmental disabilities who currently receives SSI plus a dependent benefit from my husband's Social Security retirement. My FRA is coming up in about 8 months and I'm trying to figure out our financial plan. When I check my SSA account online, I can see that my husband's benefit will increase by about $750/month when I file for my own retirement benefits (he's getting less than his full benefit amount right now). What I can't figure out is how much my son's benefit will increase when I file. He currently gets $1,275 from my husband's record, but I can't find any calculator or estimate for how that might change when I file. Does anyone know how the SSA calculates the increase for a disabled adult child's benefit when the second parent files? Or is there somewhere on the SSA website where I can see this projection that I'm missing? It would really help with our budgeting for next year.
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Alexis Renard
Your son's benefit would be based on the higher of either parent's PIA (Primary Insurance Amount), not a combination of both. So if your own PIA is higher than your husband's, your son's benefit would increase to 50% of your PIA. If your husband's PIA is higher, your son's benefit would stay the same. The easiest way to find out is to ask SSA directly what your son's benefit would be after you file. They can run the calculations based on both records.
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Brianna Schmidt
•Thank you! That makes sense. So it sounds like I need to know whose PIA is higher - mine or my husband's. I'm pretty sure mine will be higher based on my work history, but I'm not 100% certain. I'll call and ask them to compare the two PIAs and tell me what my son would get based on my record.
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Camila Jordan
My daughter gets disabilty payments too and we went thru this last year when I filed for early retirement. What happend was her benefit went up because my PIA was higher than her moms but they didn't tell us that would happen! it was a nice surprise when the deposit came lol.
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Brianna Schmidt
•Oh that's helpful to know! I'd rather know in advance what to expect though. Did you have to submit any additional paperwork for your daughter when you filed, or did SSA automatically recalculate her benefit?
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Camila Jordan
•nope no paperwork! it just happened automatically the month after i started getting my retirement. But maybe call to make sure. My wifes benefit went up too when i filed.
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Tyler Lefleur
To give you a more complete answer: When you file for retirement, SSA will automatically review your disabled adult child's benefits. They'll compare your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) to your husband's PIA. Your son will receive 50% of the higher PIA between you and your husband. Since your son receives SSI as well, keep in mind that any increase in his Title II benefits (the Social Security disability benefits from a parent's record) will reduce his SSI payment dollar-for-dollar after the first $20 exclusion. This is because SSI is needs-based and counts other income. For a precise calculation, you would need to either: 1. Call SSA directly (though wait times can be extremely long) 2. Visit your local field office (requires appointment in most locations) 3. Have your MySocialSecurity account updated to show potential family benefits (which unfortunately isn't always available
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Brianna Schmidt
•Thank you so much for the detailed explanation! That's very helpful. I didn't think about the SSI reduction, but that makes sense. His SSI payment is already pretty small ($217/month) because of his benefit from my husband's record. I've been trying to call SSA for a week but can't get through - either disconnected or 2+ hour wait times. Maybe I should just make an in-person appointment.
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Madeline Blaze
You should try using Claimyr to get through to SSA. I was in the same boat trying to figure out complicated dependent benefits and couldn't get anyone on the phone for weeks. Used claimyr.com and they got me through to a rep in about 20 minutes instead of waiting for hours. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU - it saved me so much frustration when dealing with my disabled son's benefits calculation. The SSA rep was able to tell me exactly what my son's new benefit amount would be after I filed.
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Brianna Schmidt
•I never heard of that service before! I'll check it out. At this point I'm willing to try anything because the wait times have been ridiculous. Thanks for the suggestion!
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Max Knight
•Be careful with those services that claim to help you reach SSA!! Some of them are SCAMS trying to get your SS#
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Madeline Blaze
•It's not a scam. You don't give them your SSN or any personal info - they just connect the call for you. The actual conversation is directly with the real SSA rep. I was skeptical too but it worked fine.
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Emma Swift
MY EXPERIENCE WAS TERRIBLE with this!!! When I filed for my benefits last year they MESSED UP my disabled son's payments for THREE MONTHS!!! They claimed they were "recalculating" but what happened was his payments STOPPED completely! We couldn't pay rent and almost got EVICTED!!! Make sure you file at least 3 months before you need the money and keep CALLING THEM EVERY WEEK to check on status! The system is BROKEN!!!!!
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Brianna Schmidt
•Oh no, that sounds awful! I'm so sorry you went through that. Thanks for the warning - I'll definitely file well in advance of when I need the money. Did you ever get backpay for the missed months?
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Emma Swift
•Yes we got backpay EVENTUALLY but we had to BORROW money from family for those months! And the stress was TERRIBLE for my son who doesn't handle change well. Just be PREPARED that nothing happens smoothly with SSA!!
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Isabella Tucker
I think theres a family maximum benefit amount too that might come into play. Did anyone mention that to you? I'm pretty sure theres a cap on how much all family members can get from one persons record but I don't know how it works with disabled kids. Sorry not much help just thought I'd mention it.
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Tyler Lefleur
•You're right about the family maximum benefit (FMB), which typically limits total family benefits to 150-180% of the worker's PIA. However, in this situation where benefits are potentially coming from two different records (both parents), the calculations become more complex. If the disabled adult child can receive a higher benefit from the mother's record, they would be moved to that record and the family maximum on the father's record would only apply to benefits paid to the father and any other auxiliaries on his record. Similarly, the mother's family maximum would apply to her record separately. This is definitely something the SSA needs to calculate specifically for their situation, as family maximum rules have several special provisions when disabled adult children are involved.
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Max Knight
my brother is disabled and gets ssi and my dads SS. when my mom retired they just added everything up and divided it and he still got 50%. they don't add them togther for more money they just pick the higher one.
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Alexis Renard
One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet: if your son is receiving benefits as a disabled adult child (DAC) on your husband's record, and your PIA is higher, when you file for retirement, his benefit will automatically be recalculated based on your record instead. However, there's an important timing issue to be aware of. If you file for reduced retirement benefits before your FRA, and your son's benefit switches to your record, his benefit would also be reduced proportionally. If you wait until your FRA to file, his benefit would be the full 50% of your PIA. This is one of those situations where waiting until your FRA might be significantly beneficial for both of you, depending on the difference between your and your husband's PIAs.
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Brianna Schmidt
•That's a crucial point I hadn't considered! I was planning to wait until my FRA anyway, but now I definitely will. I don't want to accidentally reduce my son's benefit by filing early. Thank you so much for mentioning this - these details are why I asked here.
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