SSI approved. Now what?

[Kay1]

I'm really happy for my son and thank every one of you who helped me help him. He'll receive 1/3 less the full benefit plus Medicaid.

I'm to be the Payee and I don't want to make any mistakes. I plan to open an account for him and take a small, monthly stipend for household expenses and use any left over for clothing and personal items.

What has me thrown is the first large check he'll recieve. SSA says that money can be used to pay debts and past-due payments. Does that mean I can take stipends from the day he applied for SSI and just record it as such?

 

[deerhart]

yes, for example (I use this with my adult ssi clients living with someone) he can "owe" you each month since applying for ssi for his room and board (rent, utilities, food) and that can be paid back from his lump sum back pay.

This is important to do, especially with adult cases because of the limited amount of assets the person can have and usually you have 6 months to decrease the backpay amount down to being below the asset threshold

 

[Kay1]

yes, for example (I use this with my adult ssi clients living with someone) he can "owe" you each month since applying for ssi for his room and board (rent, utilities, food) and that can be paid back from his lump sum back pay.

This is important to do, especially with adult cases because of the limited amount of assets the person can have and usually you have 6 months to decrease the backpay amount down to being below the asset threshold

Whew! Thank you, deerhart. I was just coming back to bump up my thread. I'm having a hard time finding a lot of the information I suddenly need. We need to find a "one stop shopping" attorney who can help us with guardianship, a trust, and the management of his benefits.

 

[deerhart]

Whew! Thank you, deerhart. I was just coming back to bump up my thread. I'm having a hard time finding a lot of the information I suddenly need. We need to find a "one stop shopping" attorney who can help us with guardianship, a trust, and the management of his benefits.

That should be easy. You need to do a guardianship and conservetorship (all in one case). Will be a short court hearing and not much else.

Other then that, you will need to set up a special needs trust and it has to be worded VERY specifically in order to not mess with his SSI (especially if he is going to get an inheritance at some point).

As for his benefits, the best thing to do is to make a budget for the money and dish it out each and every month. For example $100 for room and board, $100 for his insurance (he won't be eligible for medicare until 29 months after his onset date normally) $100 for everything else and pay it out. This way you can show how the money was spent (I would write a receipt each month even if it is to you form you)

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

That should be easy. You need to do a guardianship and conservetorship (all in one case). Will be a short court hearing and not much else.

Other then that, you will need to set up a special needs trust and it has to be worded VERY specifically in order to not mess with his SSI (especially if he is going to get an inheritance at some point).

As for his benefits, the best thing to do is to make a budget for the money and dish it out each and every month. For example $100 for room and board, $100 for his insurance (he won't be eligible for medicare until 29 months after his onset date normally) $100 for everything else and pay it out. This way you can show how the money was spent (I would write a receipt each month even if it is to you form you)

If he was only approved for SSI and not RSDI, he won't be eligible for Medicare at all, he will be only eligible for Medicare.

OP, if he has past medical bills that fall in the retro time limit, you can give his Medicaid Info to them for those bills to be paid, so you don't have to pay them, excpet for maybe a small co-pay.

Suzanne

 

[Kay1]

Thanks, guys. I'm feel a lot calmer now. I've been looking into room and board on the internet and have run into sites that suggest I go back to SSA and actually charge a set amount for room and board. I'm not sure whether or not I should do this or whether or not I could do it on my own.

Thanks again. There's just so much to learn all of a sudden. At least I'm less panicked about the check.

 

[blondietink]

SSI = Medicaid
SSDI = Medicare

Some people like my son, who is drawing off his father's retirement benefits and is eligible for SSDI and just started being eligible for Medicare after receiving the benefit for 24 months. He is also eligible for medicaid due to his disability and income (from the SSDI) that is below the federal poverty level. He is termed a "dual eligible".

In NYS we can apply for guardianship by ourselves, paying just a $20.00 fee and showing up in court. The Center for Advocacy of the Disabled has the do it yourself information available. I don't know if there is a similar agency in Florida, but it might be worth checking out to save some money. Our special needs trust written into our wills cost us $600.00 and covered everything from the wills including the special needs trust, power of attorney and health care proxys just to give you a ball park figure to go by.