Marriage is an amazing journey. It combines traditions and brings families together. However, It is also a significant change. Marriage might affect your joint financial situation, including government benefits like Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or Supplemental Security Income(SSI), in addition to lifestyle changes.
If you are getting Social Security retirement or disability benefits and get married, your benefits will not change. Other benefits, like SSI, survivor benefits, divorced spouses, and children’s benefits, could be impacted, though.
It is important to understand how marriage affects your SSDI and SSI benefits So that you can decide whether or not you want to get married. In this article, we will talk about what happens to your SSI benefits after you get married. We will also go over some actions you should take to maintain your eligibility for SSI assistance.
Losing SSDI Benefits After Marriage
To receive benefits under the SSDI program, you must pay into the Social Security system through tax deductions from your payroll. You must have accumulated enough work credits to be covered in order to be eligible for SSDI benefits; if you do, getting married will not have an impact on your eligibility.
However, depending on your relationship with the person whose work record you receive Social Security benefits from, if you get benefits on the basis of your spouse’s or your parent’s work record, you may lose those benefits once you get married. Here are more details on the benefits you can lose if you get married:
Benefits of Your Own Work Record
Getting married has no impact on your benefits payments if you are getting Social Security disability benefits based on your own work history (i.e., you are a disabled worker). This is true no matter if your prospective spouse has a job, receives disability benefits, or is unemployed true.
Deceased Spouse’s Work Record
If you get married before turning 60 (or 50 if you are disabled) and are getting benefits as the widower of a Social Security disability claimant, you will stop receiving those benefits. However, if you marry after that age, you may still be eligible for benefits following your union.
Ex- Spouses Work Record
Getting married will make you ineligible for Social Security benefits if you are currently receiving them based on your ex-spouse’s work history.
Deceased Ex-Spouse’s Work Record
If you get remarried before turning 60, you will no longer be eligible for surviving divorced spouse payments. If you get remarried before age 50 and are a divorced spouse with a disability who is getting survivor benefits based on your deceased ex-spouse’s work history, you will forfeit these benefits.
Parents Work Record
If your parents are getting SSDI or passed away while receiving SSDI, you are eligible for dependent payments if you are 18 years old or younger or a 19-year-old high school student. When you get married or turn 18 or 19 if you are still in school, these privileges come to an end.
If you are an adult who became disabled before age 22 and is considered an adult disabled child, you are eligible to receive benefits under your parents’ employment record for the duration of your disability.
However, receiving SSDI benefits will end if you get married. A disabled adult child may occasionally be permitted to wed another disabled adult child without affecting either person’s eligibility for benefits.
Losing Your SSI Benefits
Contrary to common misconceptions, receiving SSI benefits after getting married is not impossible. It is good to have a basic understanding of the SSI program in order to understand the potential effects of marriage on benefits.
With a disabling medical condition, little income, and few assets, the Supplemental Security Income program provides assistance to those who qualify. An applicant’s income and assets must meet specific criteria in order for them to be eligible for SSI benefits.
For instance, as an individual, you must have fewer than $2,000 in bank deposits. To be eligible for SSI payments, you must adhere to these income and resource caps. Unlike SSDI, past earnings are not taken into account while determining eligibility for SSI benefits. Instead, the SSI program includes resource and income restrictions for how much an SSI recipient can have.
The following section will discuss the income limits:
Marrying a Person Who is Not Getting SSI Benefits
If you marry someone who has a job but is not receiving SSI or SSDI benefits, then a portion of their income and assets will be deemed to belong to you. The SSA will, therefore, consider your spouse’s income to be your own. The SSA will take into account your spouse’s earnings from:
- Full-or part-time employment
- Odd jobs, freelance work
- Other regular monthly or annual sources of income
- SSDI payments (if they are receiving monthly benefits) and other sources
In 2023, a person must have less than $934 a month in unearned income to receive SSI. A couple can get SSI if they have unearned income of less than $1,391 a month in 2023.
Because a larger portion of earned income isn’t counted, a person who gets SSI can earn up to $1,913 a month ($2,827 for a couple) and still get SSI.
In 2023, a person applying for SSI disability payments who isn’t blind and who works and
earns more than $1,470 a month, probably won’t be able to get SSI. A person who is blind, is just now applying for SSI disability payments, and earns $2,460 a month probably won’t be able to get SSI.
Your Partner’s Income Might Make You Ineligible for SSI After Marriage
When you get married, it’s likely that your combined income will be more than the SSI qualifying limit if your spouse has a job that pays more than $934 a month. If your spouse earns a high amount of money, you are not eligible for SSI assistance.
For instance, you would not be eligible for SSI payments if your husband works and earns $48,000 or more annually. In other words, because of your spouse’s income, your SSI benefits would end.
In a similar way, if your spouse makes $24,000 per year or $2,000 per month, it would be approximately half what the average American worker makes. You would then get an SSI payment cut of 64%, or around $300 less per month.
When Both Spouses Receive SSI
The SSI marriage penalty will probably result in a reduction of benefits for one or both of you if the person you’re marrying is also receiving SSI. Effective January 1, 2023, the federal benefit rate is $914 for an individual and $1,371 for a couple.
Therefore, getting married does affect your benefits when both partners receive SSI: Two SSI beneficiaries who are not married can get up to twice their individual payments, or $1,828 per month (compared to $1,371 if they marry).
Both You and Your Spouse Are Getting SSI Benefits
The Social Security Administration will lower the amount of money you receive if the person you are marrying is also receiving SSI benefits. For instance, in 2023, the entire SSI payment for an individual is $914, while the amount for a couple who both receive SSI is $1,371.
Therefore, being married does lessen how much you would each get on your own. In other words, you would each receive up to $1,828 a month if you weren’t married. But if you get married, you may only get up to $1,371 every month. The marriage penalty is as follows.
The SSA claims that the marriage penalty exists because a couple may get by on less money when they share a home and other resources than two people living alone.
Considering how much cost of living has increased, it seem like it’s an out of date concept. Unfortunately, it appears that the SSI program intends to keep the rules unchanged.
Effect on SSI Benefits if You Get Married but Are Receiving Dependent Benefits
If your parents are still alive and receiving SSDI payments, and you are 18 years of age or younger (or a 19-year-old high school student), you are eligible for dependent benefits. If your parents passed away while receiving SSDI payments, you may also be eligible for dependent benefits. Dependent benefits end at age 18, when you get married, or 19 if you are still in school.
If you are a disabled adult child receiving benefits, you are eligible for benefits based on your parents’ employment history for the duration of your disability. If you are a disabled adult child receiving benefits based on your parents’ employment history, you are considered an adult who became disabled before the age of 22.
Your SSDI benefits will end if you marry. A disabled adult child, however, might be able to marry another disabled adult child in some situations without affecting either person’s benefits.
What If You and Your Partner Are Getting Both SSDI and SSI Benefits?
You are getting concurrent or dual benefits if you receive SSI and SSDI benefits each month. Marriage may result in the loss of your SSI payments if you receive both SSDI and SSI benefits concurrently. Your SSDI benefits will stay the same, though.
However, SSI benefits will alter or end if your spouse earns more than the SSI benefits cap. Benefits from SSDI are determined by your own earnings. SSDI benefits are not subject to any asset or income restrictions. Because of this, if you get married, nothing will change.
To learn how your monthly payments will change as a result of marriage, get in touch with your local or neighborhood Social Security office. Additionally, retaining a lawyer with knowledge of Social Security Disability Insurance will assist you in understanding how your SSI and SSDI benefits will change once you get married.
Does Marriage Change Your Eligibility for Medicare and Medicaid?
Your status as a dual eligible person for Medicaid and Medicare will change if you get concurrent benefits. A program known as Medicare Crossover between Medicare and Medicaid aids those who are SSDI-eligible for Medicare but are unable to pay the premiums.
Through the Medicare Savings Program, individuals with dual eligibility may be eligible for assistance with Medicare premiums and pay. You must get in touch with your state Medicaid office to find out if you qualify for this program. Three Medicare Savings Programs are available to people who have dual eligibility
- Program for Qualified Medicare Beneficiaries
- Program for Specific Low-Income Medicare Beneficiaries
- An individual program that qualifies
You can lose your status as a Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) if your income increases. This implies that you might incur higher out-of-pocket expenses. However, you might still be able to be accepted into the Qualifying Individual (QI) or Specified Low-Income Medicare Beneficiary (SLMB) programs.
Your Medicare premiums will still be covered by these programs. Additionally, you could keep receiving extra help to pay for Medicare part D.
Impact of Legal Guardianship on Disability Benefits
When getting disability benefits, legal guardianship has a big impact. One person must assume legal responsibility for another, frequently because of a disability. Benefit eligibility may change if a guardian is appointed or already exists.
Guardianship may require handling a minor’s financial affairs, which could make receiving government benefits like SSI or SSDI more challenging. Having a guardian or becoming one might affect how income and assets are assessed for SSI benefits for people with disabilities.
To navigate this complex field, it might be helpful to speak with legal or social work specialists in disability and guardianship. To keep receiving disability benefits, it is essential to promptly notify the appropriate agencies of any changes.
The potential effects on your financial condition must be carefully considered before deciding to get married while receiving disability benefits. While marriage normally has no influence on SSDI benefits, it may have an effect on other benefits, including SSI, survivor benefits, benefits based on an ex-spouse’s employment history, and benefits received as a dependent.
The income and resource restrictions for SSI payments, in particular, may be impacted by your spouse’s earnings and assets. Due to the SSI marriage penalty, being married to someone who gets SSI can lead to a reduction in payment for both parties.
Additionally, for those receiving concurrent benefits, Medicare and Medicare eligibility may change.
