My wife and I bought property before her going on ssi and myself on SSD. If we sell it will we lose either one ?

Hi. Selling your home wouldn't have any adverse effect on your Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits, but it could cause your wife to lose her Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. SSI is a needs based program, and there is a limit on the amount of assets a person can have and still qualify for SSI. A home in which a person lives is excluded from counting toward the asset limit, but the proceeds from selling a home generally would count as an asset for SSI purposes. And, having countable assets in excess of $2000 would make a person ineligible for SSI.

Whether or not your wife's SSI benefits would actually be terminated if you sell your home likely depends of what you do with the proceeds. When an person sells an excluded home, the proceeds from the sale are excluded from counting as an asset if the individual a) plans to use the proceeds to buy another excluded home, and b) does so within 3 full calendar months of receiving them.

Best, Jerry