Hi Larry, if I may, I have a few questions.

I am married with a disabled child who was disabled before age 22. I will be electing to take early retirement this April (Birth Month) at 62. My PIA is $1,149. My reduced benefit would be $828./monthly. Auxiliary Benefits for other family members are $862./monthly, with a Family Member Benefit (FMB) of $1,724./monthly. My wife will be 60 in February and will continue to work.

My child, disabled since birth, has collected SSI since he was four. His Special Education School assisted him with the SSA’s Ticket to Work Program and OVR. He worked about 18 months until he was injured on the job. He has eight (8) Work Credits that were obtained before age 24 and has not worked since the job injury. My child currently collects SSDI on his Work Record at $738./monthly. He also currently collects SSI at $65./monthly.

On the SSA-1 BK Retirement Application it asks about any disabled children who were disabled before age 22, which my child was.

Will the SSA give my child DAC/CDB payments on my record and is this mandatory?

Will he still receive his SSDI on his record?

What would be the approximate amounts and will there be a combined amount of SSDI and DAC/CDB, reduce one or reduce the other?

Would the FMB factor in to this?

(We do know about the Child in Care Benefit for Spouses and we will consider that at a later date if necessary)

Thank you for this wonderful and helpful website!!

Hi,

Well, first off if your PIA is $1,149 and your FMB is $1,724, the amount available to be paid to your eligible family members is $575, not $862. The maximum monthly amount of benefits that can potentially be paid to your family members from your account while you're living is determined by subtracting your PIA, not your reduced benefit rate, from the FMB.

It sounds like your child would likely qualify for disabled adult child's (DAC) benefits on your record, but if the Social Security disability (SSDI) benefit rate payable based on his own earnings is higher than his potential DAC benefit rate then he couldn't be paid any DAC benefits. That appears to be true in your son's case. The maximum possible DAC rate that your son could qualify for from your record while you're living is equal to 50% of your PIA, and since that would amount to less than his SSDI rate according to the figures cited in your question he couldn't be paid any DAC benefits.

Your son wouldn't be required to file for DAC benefits if he couldn't be paid any benefits. However, he would have to apply for and establish technical entitlement to DAC benefits in order for your wife to potentially qualify for child in care spousal benefits. If your son was eligible to actually be paid any DAC benefits in addition to his SSDI then he'd be required to apply for them or else his Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits would be terminated, but that doesn't appear to be an issue in his case.

Before applying for reduced benefits you may want to strongly consider using our software (https://maximizemysocialsecurity.com/purchase) to fully explore and compare all of your options so that you can determine the best way to maximize benefits for your family.

Best, Jerry