Social Security Benefits for Adult Children With Disabilities

A disabled child must be under the age of 18 to receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. However, once they reach the age of 18, you’ll no longer qualify for that reason. However, adult children with disabilities can still collect Social Security disability benefits based on their parents’ earnings record(s) if they are over the age of 18.

Once a child with disabilities reaches the age of 18, their disabilities could prevent them from being able to work. In such a case, the parents will have to continue caring for them, which can be expensive. It’s because of this that parents can still collect Social Security benefits for their adult children with disabilities.

The SSA classifies adult children with disabilities as “children” even though they are over the age of 18. These individuals will be collecting benefit payments based on the earnings records of their parents.

Qualifying for Social Security Benefits as an Adult Child With Disabilities

You will have to meet specific criteria in order to qualify as an adult child with disabilities. The “child” must be unmarried, must be over the age of 18, must have a disability that began before the age of 22, and must have a parent who is receiving Social Security benefits or who has passed away but was insured for Social Security benefits at the time of their death.

To determine whether you or your adult child qualifies for disability benefits, certain eligibility standards must be met. These standards are the same for any adult that applies for Social Security disability benefits. This means that the adult child:

• Must have a disability that has lasted for at least 12 months.
• Has a disability that is expected to last for at least 12 months.
• Has a disability that will result in death.
• Suffers from a disability that causes an impairment or requires a treatment that renders them unable to perform substantial work.

When it comes to proving that you or your adult child has an impairment that will prevent the ability to work, there are several ways to do so. The following are the three main ways to prove the disability will prevent the ability to do substantial work.

Have a listed impairment

The Social Security Administration has a list of medical impairments along with criteria for each one. If an adult child has one of the impairments on the list or a condition of equal severity as the criteria listed, then they will qualify.

Have a disability that equals a listed impairment

Even if the disability doesn’t match the impairment or the criteria for the listed conditions, an adult child can still qualify if their impairment medically equals the impairments and criteria listed.

Have limited functional capacity

If the disability doesn’t match the list of impairments and is not medically equal, an adult child can still qualify if their disability reduces their ability to function.

SSDA USA

These are just a few things you should know about qualifying for Social Security benefits for adult children with disabilities. For more professional advice, contact us to schedule a free consultation. You can call us at 602-952-3200 or use our LiveChat feature to get in touch with our attorneys.

This is attorney advertising. SSDA, LLC is a group of attorneys that pursues claims for Social Security Disability benefits on behalf of its clients against the Social Security Administration. SSDA, LLC is in no way a part of the Social Security Administration. Further, the information on this blog is for general information purposes only. Nothing herein should be taken as legal advice. This information is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing does not constitute, a representative-client relationship.