My 2 children (twins) are receiving social security payments due to their father’s disability. At the time that the payments started, there were 4 children (my two plus the dad’s two).
One of the dad’s other children turned 18. I received a letter in May 2019 indicating the benefit for only one of my children is being raised because the benefits to another person ended in June 2017.
It looks like they recalculated the benefits and determined an additional amount was due to my oldest son.
I did not receive a letter for my youngest son. Why wouldn’t my other son have receive an additional amount?
I went to the social security office and was told that I needed to appeal, within 60 days, the letter sent to my oldest son. Why do I need to appeal that when the son I’m inquiring about never received a letter?
How to I make a proper inquiry on why my youngest son did not receive a letter or additional benefits? Will I be able to get the back benefits even though the 60 day appeal window is closed?
Hi,
Well, what I can tell you is that whenever more than one child is eligible for child's benefits on the record of a person receiving Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits, then all of the children should receive equal monthly amounts. I can't imagine how the children's benefit rates could get messed up, but if they are then an appeal should not be required to correct the problem. However, if one of your children is getting paid less than the other child and Social Security is not taking action to correct the error, then you may need to file an appeal to get them fix the problem. Appeals are supposed to be filed within 60 days of the determination that's being appealed, but if you didn't receive a notice then that should be considered as good cause for late filing (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0203101020).
If one of the children has been underpaid then they could be paid any back pay due as the result of the error, but the other children may then be required to repay any overpayment they received.
Best, Jerry
