My aunt who is 77 years old inherited money from her brother's life insurance 6 years ago. Her SS Disability was terminated when she got this money. How long before she can receive benefits again?

Hi,

Receiving an inheritance would not cause Social Security disability (SSDI) or any other type of Social Security benefits to be terminated. Therefore, I can only assume that what your aunt was getting was Supplemental Security Income (SSI). SSI is a needs based benefit administered by the Social Security Administration, but it is not funded by Social Security taxes (https://www.ssa.gov/ssi/). However, if your aunt was actually getting Social Security benefits, then they stopped for some reason other than her inheritance and she should contact Social Security for an explanation.

If what your aunt was receiving was SSI, then in order for her again qualify for SSI her countable resources would need to be below $2,000 and her income would also have to be below the SSI limit. The value of a person's home and one vehicle are excluded from counting toward the SSI resource limit, but as long as your aunt has more than $2,000 in the bank she couldn't qualify for SSI.

Best, Jerry