Will my younger children's SSDI auxiliary benefits increase when oldest turns 18?
My situation is getting complicated with my oldest about to turn 18 next month. I've been on SSDI since 2020 after my car accident and have 3 kids (17, 14, and 12) who all receive auxiliary benefits based on my disability. Currently they each get about $520 per month. I know my oldest will lose his benefits when he turns 18 (he's not continuing in high school), but I'm wondering if that means my other two kids will automatically get more? Will their monthly amount increase because there are fewer kids on my record, or do I need to contact SSA to make this happen? I called the 800 number twice but couldn't get through to a real person. Any parents been through this before?
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Mia Alvarez
Yes, your younger children's benefits will automatically increase when your oldest ages out. The family maximum benefit amount won't change, but it will be redistributed among fewer beneficiaries. Each child can receive up to 50% of your Primary Insurance Amount (PIA), but if that would exceed the family maximum, their benefits are proportionally reduced. With one fewer child, the others should see an increase in their monthly payment without you needing to do anything. SSA handles this adjustment automatically when they process your oldest child's termination.
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Zachary Hughes
•Thank you! That's a relief to hear it happens automatically. Do you know approximately how much the increase might be? And will there be any gap in payments or will the new amount just show up in the month after my son turns 18?
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Carter Holmes
when my daughter turned 18 last yr the other kids payments went up by like $175 each. took about 6 weeks to see the change tho just fyi
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Zachary Hughes
•Thanks for sharing that! Good to have a rough idea of the timeline. Did you have to call them at all during those 6 weeks or did it just show up eventually?
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Sophia Long
This happened with my family too. My youngest got a bigger check after her brother graduated. But social security NEVER told us this would happen! We were surprised when the amount changed.
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Angelica Smith
•Same here! And they didn't even send a letter explaining the increase! My son's payment jumped from $490 to $658 after his sister aged out, and I had to call to confirm it wasn't a mistake. I was worried they'd ask for it back later!
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Logan Greenburg
The family maximum benefit (FMB) is usually between 150% to 180% of your disability benefit. If your 3 kids each get $520, that's $1,560 total, so they're likely already hitting that maximum. When your oldest drops off, that same maximum amount will be split between 2 kids instead of 3, so each should receive approximately $780 per month (assuming the current total is exactly at the family maximum). The adjustment should happen automatically the month after your son turns 18. There might be a processing delay of 1-2 months, but they'll include back payments to cover the difference. One important note: if your oldest turns 18 mid-month, he'll still receive benefits for that entire month.
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Zachary Hughes
•Wow, thank you for that detailed explanation! If they each get $780 instead of $520, that would really help with expenses. Good to know about the mid-month birthday too - my son's birthday is on the 15th.
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Charlotte Jones
SSI and SSDI family benefits are so COMPLICATED!! When my oldest aged out, it took SSA almost 3 MONTHS to adjust my younger kids' benefits! No explanation, no letter, NOTHING! I kept calling that impossible 800 number and couldn't get any answers. Finally I got through to someone who told me it was "in processing" whatever that means. The system is BROKEN!
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Lucas Bey
•Try Claimyr if you ever need to reach Social Security by phone again. I was in the same boat, calling for weeks with no luck. Used Claimyr (claimyr.com) and got a callback from SSA in under 30 minutes. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/Z-BRbJw3puU that shows how it works. Definitely worth it when you're dealing with important benefit issues and can't get through on the regular line.
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Charlotte Jones
•Never heard of that before but I'll definitely check it out!! Would have saved me WEEKS of frustration!!!
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Sophia Long
my cousin told me kids benfits stop at 16 not 18?? is that wrong? my daughter is 16 next month so now im worried
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Logan Greenburg
•Your cousin is incorrect. For children receiving benefits on a parent's SSDI record, benefits continue until age 18, or up to age 19 if they're still attending high school full-time. The benefits don't stop at 16. There are different rules for SSI child disability, which requires redetermination at age 18, but that's a separate program from auxiliary benefits on a parent's record.
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Sophia Long
•oh thank god!! i was about to panic. her $$ helps so much with school expenses
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Angelica Smith
Just a heads-up, you might want to confirm with SSA that everything is correctly coded in their system. When my daughter turned 18, the benefit increase for my son didn't happen automatically because there was some flag in the system that wasn't updated. I had to visit our local office to get it fixed. Once they corrected it, they issued back payments for the months we missed, but it was a hassle that could have been avoided. Better to be proactive than wait for months wondering why there's no change.
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Zachary Hughes
•That's really good advice. I think I'll try calling again next week to make sure everything is set up correctly. I don't want to risk losing months of proper payments due to a system error.
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Carter Holmes
btw if ur oldest is still in high school he can keep getting benefits until he graduates or turns 19, whichever happens first. my nephew did this and got an extra 6 months of payments
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Zachary Hughes
•Thanks for mentioning that! My oldest actually decided to get his GED instead of finishing high school, so he won't qualify for the extension. But it's good info for others reading this thread.
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