Child-in-Care Benefits

A reader looks for clarification on claiming a "child-in-care" Social Security benefit.

"I am a 61-year-old ‘almost divorced’ female. We were married for 27 years. My soon-to-be ex-husband is 76 and began drawing his Social Security benefit at his Full Retirement Age (FRA) at 66. He only draws $1,200 per month as he was a police officer. We have an adult disabled daughter who is 22 and lives in the home with me, and I take care of her. She draws off her dad's Social Security and also receives SSI every month. I went to the local Social Security office today to make a phone appointment. I am hoping to apply for ‘child-in-care’ benefits. Apparently, I could have already been drawing them, which I had no idea I could do.

However, the clerk said it's doubtful that I will ever receive child-in-care benefits because I will turn 62 in December and would have to start drawing my retirement benefit early. I thought I could wait until my FRA at 67, but she said if I want child-in-care benefits, I must start drawing at 62. Why can't I receive child-in-care benefits from my husband's Social Security? This doesn't sound right. Any thoughts or ideas?

As more background, I've been a stay-at-home mom for the last 25 years, but I have always had a 1099 job earning about $20,000 per year before expenses. In 2023, my business profit after expenses was $369."

Unfortunately, this case illustrates how Social Security is under no obligation and does a poor job pointing out benefits you might be eligible to receive. The child-in-care benefit would likely have been available to you for the past ten years since your current (soon-to-be-ex) husband claimed ten years ago. That opened the door to child benefits for his child – who at that time may have been 12 years old and would have qualified straight up for child benefits. Since the child you're caring for is the child of the benefit recipient, as the spouse, you would have had child-in-care spousal benefits available to you at that time.

If you were working then and your earnings surpassed the earnings level where Social Security reduces your benefit in proportion to your income, the earnings test could have eliminated the benefit. (We've discussed earnings tests extensively elsewhere.) However, based on the net income you mentioned you were earning, you probably could have collected at least some benefit for the past ten years. It may not have been a lot, as your husband's Social Security benefit is not very large, but we'll discuss that in a bit.

First, let me say that there's some misinformation going on here. When you turn 62, you don't suddenly lose child-in-care benefits. Actually, the point of that benefit is to provide you with a spousal benefit early, before your Full Retirement Age (FRA), without the reduction you'd typically experience for claiming, say, at age 62. In your case, your FRA is likely age 67 if you're 61 this year. Many people collect child-in-care benefits between 62 and their FRA because it allows them to collect the spousal benefit early without suffering the early-claiming reduction.

That's the good news: you're likely eligible for a spousal benefit before your FRA without an issue at age 62. Because you didn't share your personal retirement benefit, I won't speak to that benefit. I'm also unfamiliar with your earlier work history, but your own benefit may be limited if you've been a stay-at-home mom with a 1099 job netting a few hundred dollars for a good part of your working life. Regardless, the child-in-care benefit is available to you.

Even though your child is now 22, their disability leaves the child-in-care benefit without an end date. As long as the child lives with you and you're caring for the child of the (ex-)husband claiming Social Security, this setup makes you eligible. So that's also good news.

Now, a little piece of bad news: you're likely to butt up against Social Security's family maximum. It states that only a certain amount can be paid on any one number holder's record. The 'number holder' is the person with the Social Security number upon which all the benefits are based. In this case, it's your husband. You can only collect between 150% and 188% of the number holder's PIA – in his case, the amount he is collecting because he waited until his FRA to claim his benefit.

So, the $1,200 you mentioned is equivalent to his current PIA. When the child and spouse are eligible, they can each collect up to 50% of the PIA, so it appears there's $600 on the table here per person: for your child (a disabled adult child) and you. But you will butt up against the maximum here, so it's unlikely you will get another $600 when you get the child-in-care benefit.

Essentially, the maximum available to pay on his $1,200 PIA is probably another $900 or so. Social Security will say, "You could potentially be eligible for $1,200 (50% for the child, 50% for the spouse), but because of the family maximum, we're only going to pay out $900."

They will split that between you and your adult child. The split may not matter because it's coming into the same household. Just be aware and don't be alarmed that you don't get your own $600 because you're up against that family maximum. Social Security will calculate it and tell you what it is.

Under the circumstances you've described, you certainly should be able to collect the child-in-care spousal benefit from 62 to your FRA without affecting your own retirement benefit because of early claiming.