Tucson Social Security Disability Blog

Should I Tell Social Security If I Have A Baby?

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A woman called me this week about disability benefits for her child. The woman had been on Social Security disability for years before she had her daughter.  When the child turned four, the woman went to Social Security to see if her daughter could also get benefits.  Social Security told her the child was eligible, but only for the past year.

The woman wanted to know why her daughter could not get benefits back to the year she was born. The short answer is that Social Security can only go back one year from the date of application for disability benefits.  This meant that the woman who called had missed out on three years of benefits for her daughter.  Given that this would have amounted to around $6,000 a year, that is a notable loss.

You Did Tell Social Security, Right?

The lesson here is to notify Social Security within the first year of having a child. If you do so, you should not lose any benefits to which the child is entitled. 

Does Not Apply To SSI Beneficiaries  

Here are a few things to keep in mind on this issue:

► This only applies if you are receiving Social Security disability benefits.  If you are getting Supplemental Security Income(SSI) benefits, your dependents are not entitled to anything.

► If you already have other children getting benefits due to your disability, you will likely run into the family maximum.  It is still worth telling Social Security about a new family member. Social Security can tell you whether it makes sense to add another child. If the total monthly beneftis will not increase, it may not make sense. You could always add a child if another one becomes too old to get benefits due to your disability.

One More Thing To Do

Having a new bundle of joy in the house gives you a long list of things to do.  If you are on Social Security disability, add notifying Social Security of the baby’s arrival to that list. 

Hearing scheduled? Call Today.

If Social Security has scheduled your disability case to be heard by one of their judges, call me immediately. Unlike many large law firms, I can move quickly to get your case ready to be won.

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About The Author

Since 1992, I have been helping the people of Southern Arizona get the benefits they are due. Before devoting all my efforts to assisting people with Social Security disability claims, I also handled such complex lawsuits as medical malpractice and products liability. I brought to my Social Security cases all the skills and attention to detail that I developed in the courtroom. I approach each Social Security disability case as if it were a million-dollar lawsuit. For the people trying to get Social Security benefits, their claim is every bit as important. Because I have personally handled so many Social Security cases, I have refined the skills I need to win your case for you. I have helped people win cases for every kind of ailment from arthritis to valley fever. At present, I am focused on helping those persons with neurological and orthopedic disorders. Because claims for people over age fifty bring additional complications, I particularly seek out those cases to work on. I regularly write about back and spine conditions on my blog. I actively seek out the latest information about orthopedic and neurological disorders to ensure I can represent my clients as effectively as possible. Because of my current focus, I regret that I am not able to take any cases for mental disorders. If you are over age fifty and suffer from any orthopedic or neurological disorder, please contact me at once.