How do I set up a budget for SSI for my son?

[EllenFrasier]

I posted this on the regular Budget Board and it was suggested I try this board too. Thanks for your help.

My 20 year old son lives home still and will for the foreseeable future. He is disabled and we have applied for SSI for him - still waiting to hear. He has a part time job which he's had for a couple of weeks. If he is approved for SSI, his part-time job will be figured into how much he will receive - this much I know.
I have to come up with a budget for him and I have no idea how to go about it. Is there a website out there for that? Like how much we charge him to live here, how much he pays for food, clothes, cosmetics, transportation, insurance, etc. We do not charge him anything at the present time because up until two weeks ago he had no income, but he has to show that he has expenses. When he gets approved for SSI, we will probably take some money for at least his clothes.
Anyone have any experience doing this?

 

[mdvlprof]

I posted this on the regular Budget Board and it was suggested I try this board too. Thanks for your help.

Like how much we charge him to live here, how much he pays for food, clothes, cosmetics, transportation, insurance, etc.

If its a 3 BR house, and he has a bedroom - 1/3 of mortgage is his. Divide food expense by # people in household. Clothes - pretty clear which clothes are his. Transport can be tricky. Job transport[and medical transport are his. Family trips - divide.

 

[barkley]

check with social security, but i believe when they are calculating an ssi benefit they have to look at certain types of living expenses and determine if a person is getting one or more at no cost which they then have to count as a form of income (aid or income in kind) which results in a lower ssi benefit amount (there is an identical concept with public assistance and food stamps that i had to apply when i worked for social services).

ask them what categories of living expenses you have to make sure to include in your son's budget-i think, at minimum, they are bundled under "shelter" (rent), "utilities", "food", "clothing"-and maybe "personal care" (i don't know if transportation or insurance is required). i think, so long as you obligate your son to be responsible to pay you these amounts, even if he fails to pay IN FULL for any of the categories in a given month, but pays at least a token amount towards each (again check with social security) he will benefit from the maximum grant he's eligible to (after the portion of his earned income that they count is budgeted).

 

[Kay1]

Ellen, I'm the one who suggested you come here. Here's a link to the thread I started last year about my son's SSI:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2175715

It has lots of info that should help you. What I was saying on the Budget Board is that you have to be careful with Fair Share, though it might work for you for a while, until your other kids leave home. SSA uses simple math to determine whether or not your child can pay his fair share. If he can't, they reduce the benefit. Google: SSI fair share.

My son could not pay his fair share but we charge him rent. I used the local newspaper to compare room rental prices. We charge $375 which is exactly what we would charge a stranger. We keep that money and that covers his room and all utilities. The rest of what he receives is supposed to pay for food, medicine, clothing, and some personal items.

Good luck to you.

 

[barkley]

found it-go to the social security website, go to "understanding ssi", then go to "why is my living arrangement important", go down that page and you will find 2 links on the regulations for "in kind support and maintainance".

the examples explain things realy well. if you read further, it explains how in all but 3 states you need to use the "current market rental value" for your area pertain to housing related costs (in those 3 states they use a percentage of the ssi grant to determine the value).


one thing to consider if you need to document medical costs (apparantly it's an issue when medicaid and private insurance end up paying for the majority of expenses) is to keep strict track of ALL your son's "medical" expenses. this goes to tracking ALL transportation costs (mileage, meters/parking fees), as well as co-pays and insurance premiums. this is not an issue for our household, but the cpa we use (and our prior) tell me during tax season that ours in one of the few returns they process that ever qualifies for a deduction of a portion of medical expenses. the reason being is i track them like crazy. every doctors/dentists appointment, every time we go for a test, when ds had occupational therapy-i note in my calendar the address. then at the end of the year i google search the mileage and it realy adds up when you use the irs mileage rate. you might find that if you do a rough estimate it could benefit your son with respect to those expenses.

 

[Juliah]

Ellen, I'm the one who suggested you come here. Here's a link to the thread I started last year about my son's SSI:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2175715

It has lots of info that should help you. What I was saying on the Budget Board is that you have to be careful with Fair Share, though it might work for you for a while, until your other kids leave home. SSA uses simple math to determine whether or not your child can pay his fair share. If he can't, they reduce the benefit. Google: SSI fair share.

My son could not pay his fair share but we charge him rent. I used the local newspaper to compare room rental prices. We charge $375 which is exactly what we would charge a stranger. We keep that money and that covers his room and all utilities. The rest of what he receives is supposed to pay for food, medicine, clothing, and some personal items.

Good luck to you.

OP, with a family of seven, your son will almost certainly be able to pay his fair share amount, what with dividing the formula for determining fair share by seven. Unless you have an extremely high mortgage, his amount would probably be well within his means. If you do the fair share calculations prior to contacting SSA, you can see for yourself how much he would need to give you per month, and you would know before you go in if in fact he will be able to pay his fair share out of his income and SSI.

The problem with charging him rent instead of having him give you fair share is that rent is income. I've never rented a property, so I don't know what all you could claim as business expenses, but if what you charge him is more than what your expenses are, you might end up owing income tax--and, even if you didn't, it would take some work and possibly an accountant to make sure. I presume you would still have to charge him for food, unless he is buying his own food separate from you, because the food you supply him would still be considered income to him.

Hope that helps.