Many people get married either during the waiting period or after receiving benefits for Social Security disability and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). If you are receiving Social Security disability from your own earnings record and you marry, your benefits will not be affected. However, getting married can affect your SSI benefits. SSI is for people with limited income and resources. In establishing eligibility and the benefit amount for SSI, the Social Security Administration (SSA) considers the financial resources of the Claimant and certain people associated with the Claimant such as spouses. A Claimant’s marital status is a very important factor when determining if he or she is eligible for SSI benefits.
If a potential SSI recipient gets married, a portion of his or her spouse’s income and assets is counted as the income of the person applying. It is possible that once the income of a recipient’s spouse is added to the recipient’s income, the recipient is no longer eligible. Getting married can also reduce the amount of a recipient’s SSI benefits or cause the payments to stop altogether. Moreover, if the person a recipient is marrying is also on SSI, one or both of the recipient’s SSI benefit may be reduced. The full SSI payment for an individual in 2022 is $841, while the rate for a couple in 2022 receiving SSI is $1,261.
For more information on how getting married might affect your SSI benefits, contact an experienced Social Security disability attorney at Gardberg & Kemmerly, P.C. today at 251-343-1111 for a free case evaluation. Gardberg & Kemmerly, P.C. represents Social Security disability claimants in Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, and Louisiana at all levels of the disability process from initial application to appeals to Federal Court.