I have been receiving SSDI since 2003, and my son was born in 2004, but he did not start receiving his child auxiliary benefit payments until he was 12 years old for some reason? I'm not sure why that is, but I Just learned about this discrepancy today while I was looking at my SSDI payments/benefits online! So, my question for you is, can I apply for retroactive payments for his first 12 years of auxiliary payments that I did not receive? Is there anything I can legally do about this now that my son has turned 18? I Just found out that his auxiliary payments have stopped.

Also, now that he has turned18, will my benefits go back to what they were before his auxiliary benefits began? I used to receive about $1500 in monthly benefits-until my son's $500 auxiliary benefits began, then mine went down.

It seemed to me like SSDI basically just deducted $500 from my monthly benefit amount and then gave it back to me, but as a dependent child "auxiliary" payment instead, so I didn't actually receive any increase in my total amount when his auxiliary payments began! My total monthly amount was $1500 and afterwards I received $1000 he received my other $500 My total benefits are the same as before, it was just not all in my name anymore! Will my benefit go back up to the $1500 they were before now that his payments have ended, or do I have to request a review?

Hi. Your benefit rate won't go up as a result of your child's benefits stopping, nor should your benefit amount have been reduced when your son started receiving benefits. Auxiliary benefits are paid in addition to the worker's benefit rate, they never take away from what the worker is paid. If you believe that's what happened to you then you should probably contact Social Security to see if they can provide an explanation.

You can't claim child benefits on the account of a worker who's receiving Social Security disability (SSDI) benefits for more than 12 months retroactively. So, it wouldn't work to apply now for back pay from many years ago. If the reason that your son wasn't paid any benefits prior to age 12 is because no application had been filed on his behalf before then, then it's unlikely that he could be due any additional back pay. I obviously don't have access to all of Social Security records, though, so you may want to discuss this issue with Social Security.

Best, Jerry