It is a sad reality, but many American marriages will end in divorce. There are many factors that go into divorces of all varieties, but those which involve a special needs child often come with their own unique variety of stress. If you are going through a divorce in Kentucky with a special needs child involved, it is important to understand how child support payments will end up affecting SSI.
According to Special Needs Answers, most divorces focus on getting the maximum amount of child support possible from the non-custodial parent, as this is commonly seen to be in the best interests of the child. However, if you are the custodial parent of a child with special needs, you need to be aware that higher child support payments may endanger the amount of SSI that your child will receive.
This is because child support payments will be categorized as unearned income, and unearned income directly counts against any SSI given to your child. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that if your child loses SSI, he or she will also lose Medicare benefits.
When deciding how much child support you are going to ask from the non-custodial parent, also keep in mind that one-third of child support will not be taken into consideration by SSI until the special needs child hits either the age of majority or the age of 22 if he or she is still in school at age 18. This exception only applies if the non-custodial parent does not live in the same residence as the child.
This post is intended to educate you on the relationship between child support payments and SSI. It is not intended to be taken as legal advice.
