My daughter and her partner just had a baby,he receives SSDI monthly but his mother is over his account,he lives with my daughter and not his mother,can they get his account changed to solely him or my daughter? And will the baby be eligible for benefits without his mother being over it? He has autism btw
Hi. If I understand your question correctly, your daughter's partner receives Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits, and his mother is the representative payee for is benefits. A representative payee is appointed by Social Security to handle benefits for a Social Security recipient if the person who's eligible for benefits is determined to be incapable of managing their own benefits.
If your daughter's partner has been adjudged legally incompetent by a court of law, then the legal guardian appointed by the court would almost certainly be appointed by Social Security to manage his SSDI benefits. Therefore, if the current representative payee is a court appointed legal guardian, then it's virtually certain that no one else could be appointed as payee for your daughter's partner's benefits without going to court to have the guardianship order changed.
However, if your daughter's partner is not legally incompetent, then Social Security would be responsible for deciding if a representative payee is needed, and if so, who should be appointed as the representative payee. Either your daughter could then apply to be appointed as the representative payee for her partner, or her partner could apply to be appointed as his own payee (https://www.ssa.gov/payee/). Social Security would then make a formal judgement as to whether or not your daughter's partner is capable of managing his own benefits, or if not, who is in the best position to act as his representative payee.
As for your daughter's child, he may be able to qualify for child benefits from his father's account. However, there is special family maximum benefit (FMB) formula involved when a person is receiving SSDI benefits. And, that FMB formula can result in no benefits being payable to children or spouses who would otherwise qualify for benefits on the disabled person's account.
If your daughter's minor child does turn out to be eligible for child benefits, though, then Social Security would need to make a determination on who should be appointed as his representative payee. A parent with custody is generally the highest priority representative payee, so it sounds like you daughter would most likely be first in line to be appointed to handle her child's Social Security benefits if in fact the child does qualify for benefit payments.
To apply for benefits on behalf of her child, and/or to apply to be appointed as representative payee for her partner's SSDI benefits, your daughter will need to call or visit a Social Security office.
Best, Jerry
