SSI Disabled Adult Living with Parents/ Paying "Fair Share"

[g81]

I've been receiving full SSI Disability for the past 5 yrs, while living in my own apartment/paying all my own bills. I have now moved back in with my parents and I need to know how much I have to pay for my fair share in order to continue receiving full benefits?

From research I've gathered online, I've read that it's calculated by adding up the total monthly household expenses and dividing by the # of people in the home. I understand this includes rent, mortgage, gas, electricity, water, food etc.

My parents (who are married) own their home, but did refinance it recently and my Dad pays $1000/mo towards that. Does their refinance count as a "mortgage" by SS Law standards, for which I'm required to pay a portion of? My Mom, who is retired (but not receiving SS) doesn't contribute any towards it. My Dad also pays about $200/mo average for all utilities, of which my Mom doesn't contribute to either. I'm buying/preparing/consuming my food separate from my family.

Currently, my brother (not on SS) is also living in the home with my parents and I, but it's only temporary while he's shopping for a new house (a few months max). Does he count towards the # of people in the home? He's not paying anything towards household expenses, as my parents are allowing him to put that money towards his new house instead.

So I'm trying to determine which household expenses I'm responsible for, and how many people I should be dividing by to calculate my "fair share"?

Thank you

 

[commentator]

Are you on Social Security Disability, or SSI (for SSI you must be low income, SSDI is not based on your income)? Are you receiving SNAPP benefits or general assistance or whatever Medicaid is in your state? If so, you have a caseworker, and if this is the case, why don't you discuss this with them? Maybe they can help you get a sort of general idea what is a reasonable situation based on your income and situation.

 

[g81]

Are you on Social Security Disability, or SSI (for SSI you must be low income, SSDI is not based on your income)? Are you receiving SNAPP benefits or general assistance or whatever Medicaid is in your state? If so, you have a caseworker, and if this is the case, why don't you discuss this with them? Maybe they can help you get a sort of general idea what is a reasonable situation based on your income and situation.

I'm on SSI. I receive Food Assistance and Medicaid as well. I just received my redetermination forms for Food Assistance since I moved and my expenses have changed. I agree that I probably need to discuss it with my caseworker to be certain, but I thought I might get some insight here first if possible.

Thanks

 

[Janke]

If your father refinanced, he no longer owns his home outright and has a mortgage. So yes, the $1000 mortgage is a household exphttps://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0500835000ense. As are the property taxes, the property insurance, gas, electricity, water, sewer and garbage. But not the phone bill, not the cable TV bill, not the high speed internet bill.

And unless your brother resides elsewhere (sounds like he doesn't) he is a member of the household, so there would be four of you living there until he moves out, then there are three of you. Add up 12 months of household expenses and average them to come up with an average monthly total. Divide by 4 when your brother lives there, divide by 3 when he moves out, divide by 4 if someone else moves in. That is how sharing is computed. SSI only cares about how much you contribute, not your mother or your brother.

Your father and you might also agree that you should pay a flat rate for shelter rather than a percentage of bills. The flat rate would need to be the same that he would charge someone other than family, even though he might not ever consider such a thing. That is called room rental and it is different than sharing. Room rental is more of a business arrangement than sharing between roommates. Both require forms to be filled out. In room rental, if he gives you a break on the amount (charges you less than he would charge me), SSI will be reduced.

If you want to read the official policy, here is a link. Good luck. It is not easy stuff.

https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0500835000

 

[HRZ]

I would read the rules and apply some trial math BEFORE I handed over my math to my caseworker ..... IF for some reason you are not actually paying your full share but less then that amount you are not paying can be added back as a form of in kind support/ncome .Eg might trigger less SSI. this is one place to do the math correctly and actually pay your full share ..At least do some trial math first

 

[g81]

If your father refinanced, he no longer owns his home outright and has a mortgage. So yes, the $1000 mortgage is a household exphttps://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0500835000ense. As are the property taxes, the property insurance, gas, electricity, water, sewer and garbage. But not the phone bill, not the cable TV bill, not the high speed internet bill.

And unless your brother resides elsewhere (sounds like he doesn't) he is a member of the household, so there would be four of you living there until he moves out, then there are three of you. Add up 12 months of household expenses and average them to come up with an average monthly total. Divide by 4 when your brother lives there, divide by 3 when he moves out, divide by 4 if someone else moves in. That is how sharing is computed. SSI only cares about how much you contribute, not your mother or your brother.

Your father and you might also agree that you should pay a flat rate for shelter rather than a percentage of bills. The flat rate would need to be the same that he would charge someone other than family, even though he might not ever consider such a thing. That is called room rental and it is different than sharing. Room rental is more of a business arrangement than sharing between roommates. Both require forms to be filled out. In room rental, if he gives you a break on the amount (charges you less than he would charge me), SSI will be reduced.

If you want to read the official policy, here is a link. Good luck. It is not easy stuff.

https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0500835000

Thank you very much. My father actually prefers if I could just pay him a flat rate for rent/utilities combined to keep it simple. We researched rooms for rent in our area on craigslist and the rates seem to be in the $350-550/mo range (approx), so he's considering charging me $400/mo. Do you think SSA would consider that FMV? Do I just start paying him now and then notify SSA afterwards, or do I notify them that I'm going to be paying rent first and then wait for them to tell me how much is fair?

My mom already informed them that I moved back home a few days after I moved (1st wk of Sep), but they never asked anything more about my new living arrangement or sent any paperwork. And I got the full $735 again in Oct., so now I'm not sure if I'm supposed to return some of this money until everything is sorted out, or just start paying my father the amount he asks for and then report to them what my new housing expenses are going to be?

Also, I think whether or not I pay for utilities has an effect on my food benefit amount, based on deductibles for heat/electricity. So if I'm giving my father a flat fee for everything included, how would I send proof to my Food Assistance caseworker that part of that $400/mo is going to utilities?

I appreciate any input you can offer. Thanks

 

[HRZ]

I

I repeat my suzggestion to sit down and run some trial numbers first.

IF in doubt, I would lean towards high end of FMV as rent and be sure to actually pay it.
And have a business like lease with receipts etc . No funny smelly stuff you could not explain with a straight face .

I doubt your utilities are separately metered ...and it invites debate for you to pay them and prorate backwards .

IF you overpay a bit you can renegioate later

 

[Janke]

Thank you very much. My father actually prefers if I could just pay him a flat rate for rent/utilities combined to keep it simple. We researched rooms for rent in our area on craigslist and the rates seem to be in the $350-550/mo range (approx), so he's considering charging me $400/mo. Do you think SSA would consider that FMV? Do I just start paying him now and then notify SSA afterwards, or do I notify them that I'm going to be paying rent first and then wait for them to tell me how much is fair?

My mom already informed them that I moved back home a few days after I moved (1st wk of Sep), but they never asked anything more about my new living arrangement or sent any paperwork. And I got the full $735 again in Oct., so now I'm not sure if I'm supposed to return some of this money until everything is sorted out, or just start paying my father the amount he asks for and then report to them what my new housing expenses are going to be?

Also, I think whether or not I pay for utilities has an effect on my food benefit amount, based on deductibles for heat/electricity. So if I'm giving my father a flat fee for everything included, how would I send proof to my Food Assistance caseworker that part of that $400/mo is going to utilities?

I appreciate any input you can offer. Thanks

Your father gets to decide FMV, bu has to sign his name to the form. No clue what happens with food benefits.

 

[g81]

I repeat my suzggestion to sit down and run some trial numbers first.

IF in doubt, I would lean towards high end of FMV as rent and be sure to actually pay it.
And have a business like lease with receipts etc . No funny smelly stuff you could not explain with a straight face .

I doubt your utilities are separately metered ...and it invites debate for you to pay them and prorate backwards .

IF you overpay a bit you can renegioate later

Thanks. I agree about running the numbers first. That's what I'm trying to figure out. My "fair share" with my brother living here would be about 430/mo, which I could afford, but would go up to ~575 when he moves in a few months, which might be more than I could afford. So if I could just pay a flat ~400/mo for rent instead, that would be preferred.

 

[g81]

Your father gets to decide FMV, bu has to sign his name to the form. No clue what happens with food benefits.

Thanks. How do I get the form?

 

[Janke]

Call your local office

 

[g81]

Call your local office

Can I start paying him now, or should I wait until I fill out the forms and hear back from them?

 

[Janke]

Well, how can he sign a form saying you are paying rent when you are not yet paying rent? No, you can't future date this; you make an agreement to pay a certain amount beginning a certain date. And then you do what you agreed to do. Then SSA can take action.