Alimony and Social Security Disability

[msruggerio]

What is the name of your state? Maine
Does anyone know if alimony is considered income for determining disability? My Mom is physically and psychologically disabled according to her doctors and has been unable to work for some time now. However, every time she goes to the Social Security office they say she receives too much alimony. She is paying a great deal for insurance, with a very high deductible, $700 a month for medicines, as well as major medical bills. She is at the point of needing better housing and yet cannot qualify for it because she isn't deemed disabled by Social Security. It seems that alimony would be an "earning" much like interest, wouldn't it? Anyone have any ideas or experience? Thanks!

 

[fireboat1]

there are two types of social security asstance thats avail. SSI which is a needs based program,they take into consideration many things, one is ANY income, assets like a car or house,,savings accts ,stocks bonds. if you have some of hese things and it puts you over financial threshold you will be turned down. however SSDI which stands for sosial security disability insurance ,is a policy that all workers pay into as well as employers,yo need to have a total of 40 credits,20 of which must have been earned in the last 10 yrs.usually you can earn up to 4 credits a yr.for 2006 efery 910 dollars you make gives you one credit ,again you can only get 4 a yr.if your mother has enough credits,she should file for ssdi.for some reason the social security administration usually puts an application in for ssi automatically with the ssdi app.alimony is not considered earned income and will not exclude her from applying for ssdi.she can do the application over the phone or online. just search social security and you can find the site.

 

[msruggerio]

SSDI work units

Thanks for your input. Unfortunately, my Mom's work history ended more than 10 years ago. She worked for a city job (no Social Security) for many years, and then worked several part time jobs after that, so I don't know if she'd have enough units for SS anyhow. But, if I understand what you're saying, she would have had to have worked 5 years since 1999? She has been disabled for a long time, but never applied for SSDI as she didn't know it existed, and then was told she had too much money in alimony. Would getting an attorney involved be to any avail? It seems like medical bills as extensive as hers should be considered when looking at income, but if I'm understanding correctly it's not? Thanks for any input and thoughts!

 

[fireboat1]

unfortunatly ssdi has the rule about the 20 credits last ten yrs.theres no way around it.perhaps your mom can look within your state for help,also,many drug companies have programs to help low income patients,try doing a couple searches for rx help,or go to the manufactures website,you will often find info there, sorry couldnt help more