Antarctica

My friend Nate from ERI is always asking me when I’m going to take a trip to someplace interesting like Antarctica so I’m very excited to give him a shout out from that very place! “Hey Nate! Thanks for the suggestion.” I can report that I have not seen any polar bears from land, air or sea so far. As a matter of fact, from what I understand and from personal experience, spotting polar bears is not very easy. What is easy is keeping in touch with what’s happening at home. I received this excellent question recently – a topic that comes up frequently.

Dear Ben,

I have a client who is disabled and receives both SSDI disability benefits and SSI disability payments. His aunt is 85 years of age and is planning to move out of her house that she owns (worth about $80,000) and into an apartment. She wants to give the house to my client to live in. If she does this and he moves into the house, would he lose his SSDI and SSI?

Neil
Greendale, WI

Dear Neil,

Receiving a house or any other gift does not affect a person’s Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) benefits. And there is no asset limitation for entitlement to SSDI.

On the other hand, there are rules regarding how much in income and resources a person can have and be eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI.) The month your client receives ownership of the house, Social Security considers its value as income to him that month because the house provides him shelter; however, the value of shelter is capped at the Presumed Maximum Value (PMV) for in-kind support, which in 2009 is $224.66 (one-third the Federal Benefit Rate for an individual of $674.). So he would be charged with $224.66 as income for that month.

The month after that, the house becomes a resource that he owns. The countable resource limit for an individual for SSI is $2000, however, a home a person owns and resides in is not a countable income so does not count toward that $2000 limit. So as long as he still meets all the other SSI eligibility qualifications, your client will be eligible again with that month. (Source: Social Security Administration POMS SI 00815.550C2 | SI 01120.005 | SI 00835.300)

Please make sure your client contacts his local Social Security office when he receives ownership of the house.

All the best, I’m definitely going to choose someplace warm next!
Ben