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Ginsberg Law Offices

Month: April 2009

Social Security Disability and Child Support

NOTICE: I received so many comments and questions about the issues of child support and Social Security disability that I set up a separate blog about this topic – www.childsupportandsocialsecuritydisability.com.  Please visit this new blog to post comments and ask questions.

–Jonathan

Can you SSDI benefits be seized to pay past due child support?  Yes, according to Social Security Ruling 79-4, the Social Security Administration can withhold a percentage of a claimant’s benefits in an amount equal to what SSA could withhold to pay delinquent income tax debt.

No interest or penalties may be withheld, and before the first withholding may commence, SSA must give the claimant 60 days notice.

There is a question in my mind as to whether SSI benefits may be seized to pay delinquent child support.  The web site esocialsecurityappeal.com states that a “custodial parent has no right to any of the proceeds from SSI.”    Tim Moore, the editor of DisabilitySecrets.com also states that SSI recipients will not have their monthly disability benefits and past due benefits seize.  According to Mr. Moore, the rationale to protect SSI from levy relates to the nature of SSI as a welfare benefit:  “since SSI is essentially a public welfare benefit and does not derive  not from a claimant’s earnings record, SSI benefits cannot be taken for other purposes, just as food stamps and AFDC funds, likewise, cannot be seized.” Continue reading →

Will a Work Attempt Cause Me to Lose My Benefits

Many disability claimants are not ready to give up on the idea of working.   Social Security recognizes this and offers a number of programs designed to help disabled claimants transition back into the work force.

I recently received a letter from a such a claimant.  He describes himself as a 53 year old male was was approved for SSDI as of June, 2006.  The basis of his claim is major depression.  He states that in June, 2007 he decided to try to return to work as a commissioned insurance agent.   From June of 2007 through April, 2009, he has earned $10,000 in commissions, but these commissions have not yet been distributed to him.   He states that the work effort has been very difficult and at this point he has decided to discontinue his active work as an insurance agent.

The issue facing him has to do with the $10,000.   He is concerned that if Social Security sees a $10,000 distribution, it might trigger a termination.  What should he do? Continue reading →

Am I Getting the Right Amount of Money – Understanding Social Security’s Date Calculations

I received a question from one of my blog readers asking about date calculations.   I wish I could tell you that understanding Social Security’s date calculations and acronyms was easy but I can’ t say that.  I will try to offer some explanation about this confusing area.

i got an amended date signed by the judge but the  social ser, office only went back to 2005 when i had the hearing  and not the amended date that i was told they would go too. can you help me undersatnd this date stuff.
–Sandra

My reponse: Sandra, for sake of this blog post, I am going to talk mainly about SSDI benefits.  I’ll touch on SSI but I’ll make SSI date calculations the subject of a later post.

So that everyone is on the same page, when I speak about SSDI, I am talking about Title II disability – the kind of disability that you receive if you have worked and paid money into the system.  In order to qualify for SSDI, you have to be “insured” and have enough credits.  I am going to assume that Sandra has enough credits and that there is no issue regarding her eligibility for SSDI.

When you apply for SSDI, you will be asked about the “onset date” for your disability.  Since you are contending that you no longer have the capacity to work, I usually find that a good onset date is the day that you left your last full time job.   You can voluntarily change your onset date – sometimes I discover that my client chose a date that was many months after he was able to work and I amend the onset date to an earlier date.   In other cases, I find that my client used an onset date that was two or three years before she stopped working – in that case I might recommend that we amend the onset date forward as it is hard to argue that my client is disabled when she was still working full time. Continue reading →

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