Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 03:34 pm Post subject: SSi Eligibility interview: Help with advice to client
I have an SSI claimant who is from another country, with poor language skills. We have won the SSI claim, and I need to help them with the eligibility interview. They are completely without resources living off of help from family, and selling some personal items. I do not assist clients with SSI eligiblity issues typically. I would sure welcome some tips from any of you who do routinely help SSI claimants with the income and resources issues. Thank you.
Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2010 10:25 pm Post subject: Re: SSi Eligibility interview: Help with advice to client
DrDemose wrote:
I have an SSI claimant who is from another country, with poor language skills. We have won the SSI claim, and I need to help them with the eligibility interview. They are completely without resources living off of help from family, and selling some personal items. I do not assist clients with SSI eligiblity issues typically. I would sure welcome some tips from any of you who do routinely help SSI claimants with the income and resources issues. Thank you.
Coming from the viewpoint of a parent whose child was on SSI –
Two things that stand out to me are that the individual has been living off help from the family and the selling of personal property. As far as help from the family - If the help had been a bona fide loan ( meaning the agreement to repay was made at the time the loan was given, and that the loan is enforceable under the applicable State law), then it is not unearned income or in kind support. Otherwise it is.
A statement by the individual that he or she feels personally responsible to pay back the friend or relative does not create a legal obligation to repay the individual who provided the cash. Similarly, a statement by the lender that the eligible individual is only required to repay the cash if he or she becomes financially able to do so does not create a legal obligation to repay.
If the help was not a bona fide loan – then it would count as income or In-kind support.
So it might be good to be clear as to whether the individual is legally obligated to repay the family. Basically – it either was a loan or it wasn’t. I believe that in most cases – it most generally wasn’t. However, I still mentioned it, in case it actually was a bona fide loan – as your client would want to inform SSA of that (and be prepared to show proof).
Also, you would want them to know whether they will still be receiving the same help from the family when they start receiving their SSI checks – or if the situation will change – as that information would affect their benefits.
There are many, many, many rules about ISM. It depends on so many things. So there is no one size fits all procedure. The most general rule is that if an individual does not have rental liability, or does not pay their “fair share” of housing costs – their benefits are reduced by approximately 1/3 for ISM. But again, that is just the approximate general rule – and there are many factors SSA can take into consideration, such as whether the ISM comes from inside or outside the household, whether other members of the household receive some type of public assistance, and 500,000 other things.
Also, you mentioned the individual selling some personal items. It would depend on what these personal items are, and if the individual still has them, as to whether they would be a resource. Most actual “personal items” do not count as a resource. However, certain items that would have substantial value do count as a resource. So a piece of jewelry that the claimant had to wear would be a personal item (not a resource). However, if the claimant had collectible jewelry – then it could be counted as a resource.
Also – if the family can, and will, be able to continue to help – there are actually ways for them to do that. The general rule is that they cannot give the individual money. If they give the individual money – that counts as unearned income, as the money could be used to purchase food and shelter (even if it is not used for those things). But they can pay directly for things that are NOT food and shelter. If they pay for food and shelter that is considered In-Kind income. But they can pay directly for many [I]other[I]types of things.
(g) Bills paid for you. Payment of your bills by someone else directly to the supplier is not income. However, we count the value of anything you receive because of the payment if it is in-kind income as defined in §416.1102.
Examples: If your daughter uses her own money to pay the grocer to provide you with food, the payment itself is not your income because you do not receive it. However, because of your daughter's payment, the grocer provides you with food; the food is in-kind income to you. Similarly, if you buy food on credit and your son later pays the bill, the payment to the store is not income to you, but the food is in-kind income to you. In this example, if your son pays for the food in a month after the month of purchase, we will count the in-kind income to you in the month in which he pays the bill. On the other hand, if your brother pays a lawn service to mow your grass, the payment is not income to you because the mowing cannot be used to meet your needs for food or shelter. Therefore, it is not in-kind income as defined in §416.1102.
Hopefully you will be able to smooth the way for them establishing good rapport with their SSI worker. As a general rule, I have found most of the SSI workers try to be very helpful and do try to help the claimants understand the rules as much as they can.
There also might be some disability organizations in the area that would also be able to help your client in understanding at least the basic rules of SSI and help them along the way.
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