Will my 12-year-old get my older child's Social Security benefits when they age out at 18?

Unfortunately, your 12-year-old's benefit won't automatically increase when your older child ages out. Each child's benefit is calculated individually based on a percentage of your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), subject to the family maximum. When one child stops receiving benefits, it doesn't transfer to other family members. The family maximum still applies, but it doesn't redistribute the money - it just means you're further from hitting that maximum limit.

my sister had the same thing happen last year. when her oldest turned 18 the benefit just stopped. the younger kid didnt get any more $$ at all. really stinks!!!

The previous responses are correct. This is a common misconception about Social Security family benefits. Each eligible person receives their own benefit amount (up to certain limits), and when one person becomes ineligible, their portion simply stops—it doesn't get redistributed to other family members. The technical explanation is that your family is subject to a "Family Maximum Benefit" (FMB), which limits the total amount that can be paid on one worker's record. When your 15-year-old turns 18, your family's total benefits will decrease, but you'll still be bound by the same FMB calculation. Your 12-year-old's individual benefit amount was determined when they first became entitled and won't change just because another beneficiary stops receiving payments. Your 15-year-old's benefits could continue until age 19 if they remain a full-time student in high school, by the way. You should file for that extension about 3-4 months before they turn 18.

I WENT THROUGH THIS EXACT THING and it makes NO SENSE how SS handles this!! The family maximum still applies but they don't redistribute the money when one kid ages out. It's like they keep the extra $ even though the same family maximum is in place. When my oldest aged out last year, my younger daughter's payment stayed EXACTLY the same. The SSA rep told me "that's just how the law works" which is a terrible explanation!!! ugh

Have you checked if your 15 year old can get benefits until 19? If they're still in high school full time when they turn 18, the benefits can continue until they graduate or turn 19, whichever comes first. Might give you a few extra months of payments at least.

This happened with my nephew too. His sister's benefit just disappeared when she turned 18. I think there's something about how each kid gets like 50% of the parent's benefit but there's a family limit of like 150-180% total? So even when one kid stops getting benefits, the other one was already getting their maximum allowed amount. Someone can probably explain it better than me lol

I've been trying to reach SSA for weeks about a related question and keep getting disconnected or waiting forever. I recently discovered a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to an agent in about 20 minutes instead of hours of waiting. They have a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU If you're struggling to get answers directly from SSA about your specific situation, it might be worth trying. They basically call and wait on hold for you, then connect you when an agent picks up.

One other thing to consider: even though your younger child's benefit won't increase when the older one ages out, there are a couple of other events that could increase their payment: 1. Annual COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) increases that apply to all benefits 2. If you or your husband start receiving higher benefits for any reason 3. If there are any recalculations of your Primary Insurance Amount due to additional earnings None of these are specifically tied to your older child aging out, but they are ways the benefit could potentially increase in the future.

btw make sure you notify SSA when your 15yo gets close to 18. they dont automatically stop the payments and if you keep getting them you'll have to pay it all back which happened to my friend and it was a NIGHTMARE for them.