Will adopting my granddaughter affect my disabled adult children's Social Security benefits? Family maximum confusion

wow what a complicated situatuon. my sister got benefits for her disabled son but i dont think its the same as yours. did you try calling the SSA directly? they should know this stuff

This is definitely a complex scenario that touches on multiple aspects of Social Security. Let me try to help clarify: 1. Regarding adoption and the Family Maximum: When you adopt your granddaughter, she may become eligible for benefits as your dependent child (if she's under 18). This could potentially impact your family maximum calculation, which limits the total amount paid to all beneficiaries on one earner's record. If you're already at or near your family maximum with your DAC children, adding another beneficiary could cause a redistribution of benefits. 2. Child-in-care benefits: These apply to a spouse who is caring for a child under 16 or a disabled child. Since you're already receiving retirement benefits and your disabled children are adults, this likely wouldn't apply in your situation. I strongly recommend requesting an appointment with a Technical Expert at your local SSA office who specializes in family benefit situations. Regular call center representatives often don't have experience with these complex family benefit scenarios.

Your situation sounds incredibly challenging! I've been dealing with SSA for my disabled son for years and STILL get confused. When I read about family maximum rules, my head spins. It seems like nobody at SSA knows how to calculate it properly when there are multiple disabled adult children involved! What if the adoption somehow reduces your current children's benefits? Would you still go through with it? Or maybe delay until you understand the implications better? I'd be paralyzed with worry about making the wrong decision!!! Did they tell you anything about how much your benefits might change? Will your granddaughter qualify for benefits on your record after adoption? So many questions!!!

I spent 35+ years dealing with SSA and their RIDICULOUS family maximum rules. They can't even get it right half the time! When my son got disabled, they reduced my daughter's benefits without even TELLING us until THREE MONTHS LATER and then demanded repayment!!! And good luck getting a straight answer - every rep tells you something different. The system is DESIGNED to confuse people with complex family situations like yours. They should make this stuff simpler for families already dealing with disabilities!!

Hey there, I went through a similar situation last year with adopting my grandchild while having disabled adult children receiving benefits. Calling SSA was a nightmare - waited hours just to get disconnected repeatedly. I finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an SSA agent in less than 10 minutes. They have a video demo showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU Once I got through, I specifically asked for a Technical Expert who handles complex family benefit situations. Made all the difference! The regular agents simply aren't trained on these complicated family maximum calculations with multiple disabled adult children and adoptions.

To directly answer your questions based on SSA rules: 1. Adopting your granddaughter could potentially affect your family's benefits due to the Family Maximum Benefit (FMB) rule. The FMB limits the total amount payable to a family on one worker's record. When you adopt your granddaughter, if she's under 18, she becomes eligible for child's benefits on your record. 2. The formula for calculating the FMB is complex but generally ranges from 150% to 180% of the worker's primary insurance amount (PIA). If adding another beneficiary exceeds this maximum, all dependent/survivor benefits (except the worker's) are reduced proportionally. 3. Regarding child-in-care benefits: This only applies if a spouse is caring for a child under 16 or disabled, AND that spouse hasn't yet filed for their own retirement benefits. Since you've already filed for retirement, this wouldn't apply to your situation. 4. The adoption shouldn't affect your daughter who receives SSDI on her own record, nor should it directly affect your daughter receiving SSI (though household composition can affect SSI in some cases). I recommend requesting a written benefit estimate from SSA specifically addressing how the adoption might affect your family's total benefits. Request this calculation in writing so you have documentation.

There's no specific form to request a family maximum calculation, but you should write a detailed letter to your local SSA office explaining your situation and specifically request a written analysis of how adopting your granddaughter would affect all benefits in your household. Include all beneficiaries' names and Social Security numbers, and clearly state that you're planning to adopt your granddaughter. To your follow-up question about the Technical Expert - yes, Technical Experts (TEs) have specialized training in complex cases. They're several levels above the regular representatives you reach on the general number. When you get through to SSA, specifically request to speak with a Technical Expert who specializes in family benefits and DAC situations. Be prepared that they may need to schedule a callback, as TEs aren't always immediately available.

To address the comment about requesting a Technical Expert - you need to be persistent but polite. If a representative says they can't transfer you, try saying: "I understand you're trying to help, but my situation involves complex family maximum calculations with multiple disabled adult children and an adoption. These specialized cases require a Technical Expert according to SSA's own procedures. Could you please note in my file that I've requested a TE consultation and have them call me back?" Back to the original question - another thing to consider is that if your granddaughter is eligible for benefits on a parent's record, those might be higher than what she'd receive on your record. SSA will pay whichever is higher, but not both. This is another aspect a TE would need to analyze for your specific situation.

Thank you all for such helpful responses! I've learned more here than from all my calls to SSA. I'm going to: 1. Use that Claimyr service to get through to someone without wasting hours 2. Specifically request a Technical Expert using the suggested language 3. Ask for a written analysis of how the adoption will affect our family's benefits 4. Make sure to request they look at whether benefits on our granddaughter's parent's record might be higher I'll update once I get some answers. It sounds like I should prepare for the possibility that our DAC children's benefits might be reduced somewhat, but at least now I understand why. The family maximum calculation makes more sense now.