My son who is 22 autistic and bipolar is going to a Social Security hearing in May 2021. It’s heavily documented it so I think he will get it. He was diagnosed in the fifth grade And 4 other times by clinical psychologists. He is severely impaired and cannot hold a part time or full time job. I divorced in Aug. 2019. I am pretty sure my ex-husband who will be 62 in August has dementia, bipolar, or both??I have depression, had a knee replacement in December 2018, have been the primary caretaker of my autistic son and I’m not in great mental or physical health. I will be 59 in December 2021. If my ex-husband becomes disabled at 62- What type of Social Security disability would we be eligible for and at what percentage of benefits?? I applied for disability several years ago but did not get it.

Hi. If your ex-husband starts drawing either Social Security retirement or disability (SSDI) benefits, then your son may qualify for disabled adult child (DAC) benefits. But, he'll only qualify if it's established that he became disabled according to Social Security's standards prior to age 22. DAC benefits based on a living parent's account are calculated at a rate of 50% of the parent's primary insurance amount (PIA), but the actual amount payable to a DAC can be less than that due to the family maximum benefit (FMB).

The earliest that you could qualify for divorced spousal benefits is when you're age 62, and you could only qualify if you were married to your ex-husband for at least 10 years. Unreduced divorced spousal benefits on the account of a living ex-spouse are also calculated at 50% of the worker's PIA, but the actual payment amount can be less than that if the benefits are either reduced for age or because of the FMB. Divorced spousal benefits are normally reduced for age if you start drawing them prior to your full retirement age (FRA), but no reduction for age applies if the divorced spouse has a child in their care who qualifies for child or DAC benefits on the ex's record and who is either under age 16 or disabled.

Best, Jerry