I have 2 children age 8 and 13. Their father passed away last month. The girls are eligible for SS survivor’s benefits. I work full time as supervisor and make halfway decent money as well. So there are no other “benefits” involved. I am a single mother, and have always taken good care of my girls, even in past times where we were dirt poor…….I have not eaten many times to make sure they do. So without question I will use this money in my girls best interest. That is not the question here. We live in a tiny apartment with not much furniture, because no space for it. My boyfriend and I are currently buying a nice house (with 100% our money which has been saved for a year, not from gov’t.), and things will be much better for all. Am I allowed to use said survivors benefits toward paying for the house and furnishing, repairs if needed for the first year? How do I properly report this on yearly benefits reporting form that SSA will send out? Also, am I allowed to purchase CD’s to save money for the kids, as they have the best interest yield? If he filed at one point for SSD and was denied, but deemed disabled by a Dr. at time of death (but did not file again) can the girls collect disability money that could be his? He had small cell lung cancer that spread to liver. His initial filing was not cancer, but never bothered filing again because of his initial denial.
I have looked for information and I cannot find very clear answers. There are government rules for this stuff, but not in black and white. Your help will be appreciated. I live in PA, and survivor’s benefits are not related in any way to SSD or SSI. And my girls are fine. Somehow they are ok, kids are resilient and my boyfriend and I love them very much. My kids always come before me, and I take the very best care of them. My kids want for nothing! They are straight A students and well behaved, happy kids, I am blessed.
This is not a question about obtaining a mortgage loan from the bank. We are in contract to buy a house with downpayment from our savings, approved for loan. We have not actually received a dime from SSA yet, but approved.
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2 responses so far ↓
1 sensible_man // Sep 24, 2008
Not sure what you mean that the benefits are not associated with SSI. That is where they come from. As long as you can provide proof that the children are being taken care of, you will have no problems. A part of this money is to assure that they have a home to live in so a portion can be used for this. Getting CD’s may not be allowed. You cannot make any claim on your husband as far as disability since he didn’t get approved by the Board that allows payments before death. One doctors evaluation does not count here.
2 Jan // Sep 24, 2008
You can use the survivor benefits for whatever you choose as long as it benefits the children. I received benefits for my son when he was a minor because I am disabled. When the time came to fill out the reporting sheet,I calculated his share of everything in the household as what I used the money for. I calculated his share of the rent,food,utilities,etc and used that amount for the way I spent the money. They don’t ask for specific amounts for each individual item,just how much you spent each year on the children. I was never asked to prove anything with receipts or such.
As far as the CD’s,don’t know if it the same with survivor benefits as it is with dependent benefits,but when my child stopped receiving benefits when he turned 18,SS wanted me to send back any money I had saved for him over the time he was receiving benefits. Guess they figured if I didn’t need it all to support him I should send it back. They will ask you on the reporting sheet how much you saved for your child and what account it is in. I didn’t have any money saved for my child as we needed every penny just to survive. Might not be a good idea to save money somewhere it can be found.
If your children’s father was not approved by SS for disability,they cannot collect from that. It doesn’t matter if a Dr considered him disabled,SS did not approve him for benefits. They wouldn’t be able to collect twice from SS anyway. It would either be dependent benefits from disability or survivor benefits. They both come from the SS fund.
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