Last week, we wrote a blog post answering a question that was sent to us through Facebook. We received some great feedback and readers have suggested that they’d like us to make this a regular thing. Please feel free to let us know your thoughts in the comment section below. Tell us what
questions you’d like us to answer next week! Today’s question is: Question: How will marriage affect my disability benefits? Getting married may affect your disability benefits in a variety of ways. This is largely dependent on what type of benefits you receive—Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). If you receive
SSI benefits, you likely already know that eligibility is determined based on your income and financial resources. Once you get married, the SSA will “deem” a portion of your spouse’s income to your record. Essentially, this means that they will consider your future husband or wife’s income to be your income as well. This may significantly reduce your monthly payment or even cause the
SSA to terminate your benefits altogether. It is important to note that, if you live with your significant other but are not yet married, the SSA may still decide to deem some of your partner’s income to your record. If you receive SSDI on your own earnings record, getting married will have no impact on your benefits—no matter how much money your future spouse
earns. If you receive SSDI based on someone else’s earnings record, your benefits could be affected in the following ways: Before you make any decisions regarding marriage or disability benefits, you should always consult with an SSA representative. That way, you can avoid unknowingly compromising your benefits. Please feel free to leave additional questions or comments in the section below and we will try our best to answer each
of your questions. Submitted By: Molly Clarke
If both people in a married couple meet Social Security’s definition of disability — each has an illness or injury that largely prevents them from working for at least a year or will likely result in death — both can collect Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI).
As with Social Security retirement benefits, a spouse's benefit status doesn't affect eligibility for SSDI, and payment amounts are calculated on the basis of each person’s work and income history.
If only one spouse is getting SSDI, the other may be entitled to spousal benefits. These work the same with a disabled partner as with a retired one: The non-disabled spouse can receive up to 50 percent of the SSDI recipient’s benefit amount, depending on the spouse's age and other qualifying criteria.
In the case of Supplemental Security Income (SSI), the other Social Security-administered benefit available to people with disabilities, having a spouse who also qualifies for the program does not affect your eligibility. But it will likely change your benefit amount.
SSI is intended for older, disabled and blind people with little or no income and limited financial resources. Benefits under the program are not based on a person’s lifetime earnings, as with SSDI. Instead, Social Security sets a monthly cap on SSI payments and can reduce them based on a recipient's income at the time.
The maximum SSI benefit for individuals in 2022 is $841. However, if two spouses are both receiving SSI, Social Security applies a couple’s rate of $1,261. While two people who are married to each other can qualify for SSI, collectively they could get less than they might as individuals, depending on their joint income, whether they have children and other factors.
Updated December 29, 2021
When you are thinking about getting married, you’re probably not questioning if doing so will affect your Social Security disability benefits. But it might be worth a few moments’ consideration. The impact that marriage could have on your monthly payments depends on whether the benefits you receive are from Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
If you are collecting SSDI benefits on your own work record, getting married or remarried will have no effect. But if you are receiving SSDI benefits on someone else’s record, your benefits could be affected, depending on your relationship to the person on whose record you are collecting monthly payments.
In the event that you are a widow or widower collecting benefits on your deceased spouse’s work record, you will lose these benefits if you remarry before age 60 (or before age 50 if you are disabled). You will also lose benefits if you are collecting them under an ex-spouse’s work record and decide to remarry.
If you receive SSI benefits, on the other hand, marriage will likely have a greater impact on your continued ability to receive monthly payments. SSI has strict income and resource thresholds. When you marry, Social Security Administration (SSA) “deems” a certain amount of your spouse’s income as your own.
Therefore, if your spouse earns high income, part of that income will be counted as yours, and it may push you over the income limit to qualify for SSI benefits. You may lose your eligibility for SSI benefits entirely, or the amount that you receive each month could be reduced. If you both collect SSI benefits prior to getting married, it is likely that one or both of you will see your monthly benefit payments reduced.
Similarly, resources are limited under the SSI program. In order to remain eligible for benefits, you cannot own more than $2,000 in resources as a single person or more than $3,000 as a couple. SSA’s theory behind these restrictions is that you can live on less income and fewer resources together than you could on your own individually.
When SSA calculates your financial resources to see if you continue to qualify for SSI benefits, it will consider the totality of your living arrangements. If someone else pays for your food, housing, utilities, or other living expenses, for example, your monthly payments could be reduced.
There are some instances in which you qualified for and collect both SSDI and SSI benefits. If you marry with dual eligibility, you will likely lose your SSI benefits but retain your monthly SSDI payments.
Regardless of your situation, you should be aware of the impact that marriage could have on your disability benefits. When in doubt, contact your local SSA office, and someone there can help you calculate the potential loss in benefits.