<p>I received notification from one of my daughter's back up schools. They DEMANDED my<br>
other daughter's SSI information. I was under the impression that this was off limits to them. Apparently not. I had one financial aid worker tell me they could demand any information they wanted. My older daughter with SSI is totally disabled, will never work, or attend school. She has been disabled since birth. She is twenty four years old. She lives at home. Her SSI is for her. Not for our household. She did not start to receive SSI until her eighteenth birthday when she was considered her own unit by Social Security. Every year I have to account for what I have used her money for, for her benefit. Why does somebody have the right to come in and tell me it is household money when I know the hoops I have to jump through to verify what I spend it on! I called Social Security. They knew nothing. It does not feel right to me. This school keeps demanding a 1099SSA form from me. I have never received one from Social Security. The only thing I receive from Social Security are the Benefit Award letters I receive yearly from SS. I did send the school the front page with the benefit info. We are far from wealthy. My husband works two full time jobs since I am caring for older daughter. Can they legally count this income into our income??? Thank you for any thoughts or ideas....</p>
<p>I understand your concern and hope someone who's been in this situation will weigh in. It doesn't seem logical for them to look at it as if it's your income, especially since the recipient is over 18 - maybe that isn't clear to them. The 1099SSA that my kids receive for disability benefits comes in THEIR names and SS#'s - my name is only in the address box since they're under 18. </p>
<p>The school might be looking at it from a dependency point of view since, if you included your D in family size but she has substantial income of her own, they could question if she's actually your dependent financially. I'm know there are many expenses involved with taking care of a disabled adult. If there's an adjustment based on her SS income, you can submit documentation of all the medical, etc. expenses she has related to her disability and ask for a professional adjustment.
Anyway, I think you need to get the 1099SSA. Here's the number to contact them: 1-800-772-1213. Good luck!</p>
<p>The Social Security received for your disabled daughter IS part of the household money.... While the funds are for her, it is to help pay her portion of the household expenses. For example, if the rent or mortgage payment is $500.00 and there are 5 in the housheold, each person's share is $100. That $100 is to be paid from the Social Security benefit (technically). Reality, though, Social Security doesn't care if you actually use $100 for the rent or mortgage or if you save it up for other things the receipient wants or needs. Federal regulations do require compiling Social Security income information for ALL household members, regardless of their age.</p>
<p>Thank you both for replying. I submitted my daughter's yearly benefit letter to the college. Hopefully everything will work out.</p>
<p>Yes, colleges can request and require just about anything they please when it comes to their own money that they are considering to give to your student. PROFILE routinely request income and savings for other siblings.</p>
<p>Nikki - Federal regulations do require compiling Social Security income information for ALL household members, regardless of their age? For FAFSA? I thought all (untaxed) SS income was disregarded this year! I didn't put any of my kids disability dependent benefits on FAFSA as the help line told me not to!</p>
<p>C's Mom - Is this a FAFSA or a Profile school?</p>
<p>sk8rmom, when I filled out the 09/10 FAFSA it only asked if me/husband/kids received any SSI. It did not ask how much just if we got it.</p>
<p>Catherine'sMom-
I am Kate'sMom and she is also a young adult,19, in our care receiving SSI.
Our son school (a FAFSA only public U) selected us for verification and requested info on his sister's SSI. I sent the copy of her SSI award letter, felt we had no choice but to comply, even though that money is for her care.</p>
<p>I do think that our family EFC increased a few thousand dollars after they updated it online. It was disappointing to see that.</p>
<p>Sk8,</p>
<p>That must be one of the sections I have yet to read....I am still buried under incomplete 08-09 applications...and graduation is RIGHT around the corner. I know SSI was something FAFSA looked at in previous years, maybe someone in Congress finally got it right?</p>
<p>Kate'sMom-It is a profile school. I sent in the letter, since I felt I did not have any choice. We have used the SSI for our daughter's care. I understand that they have the right to know. But as parents of disabled young adults, we understand what we had to do to secure SSI for them. By that, I mean the rules and regulations of making sure the money is spent for them, and nobody else.</p>
<p>I did not think FAFSA looked at the income or assets of siblings. I know that PROFILE does and individual colleges can ask for whatever they want.</p>
<p>When it comes to the schools' own applications and PROFILE, and using the schools' own money, they can take whatever they want into consideration. There are schools that do look at 401K balances, 504 plans, and other things that do not usually get counted. If they see an unusually high balance in those plans for a family, they often will not ignore it. The financial aid folks have a lot of leeway with that part of the process. With government monies, they cannot be so flexible.</p>
<p>Nikki gave the reason why the colleges do look at the SS benefits that your D is receiving. I do believe that in your particular situation, most schools are not going to count those funds heavily, if at all. However, there are situations where siblings have assets and income that do enrich the rest of the family. </p>
<p>I know a family who have their income supplemented by funds that two of the mom's older kids have, inherited from their father who is now deceased. It has allowed the family to buy a bit more house, and eased some of the expenses of those kids, such as private school tuition, specialty camps, etc. So everyone in the family does benefit to some degree from the money those kids have.</p>
<p>There are also families who will put college savings in the youngest child's name so that it is not included for FAFSA. PROFILE makes sure that you cannot "hide" funds in another immediate family member's name in order to qualify for more money. It makes it so that you cannot transfer some savings or assets into a child's account, thereby avoiding its mention on the financial aid forms. It counts as family money whether it is in the parents' names or in a sibling name. It counts MORE heavily if it is in the name of student who is applying, and this scenario is one that is addressed in most college financial guides.</p>
<p>social security benefits are not counted towards the calculation of the EFC starting with the 2009-2010 school year. this includes supplemental security income and social security disability benefits.</p>
<p>in other words you do not have to put your social security benefit amounts on the fafsa form this year, which might result in a much lower EFC (or maybe a 0 EFC for some of you ) this upcoming year.</p>
<p>baker-
Wow. Our son just graduated so our family misses this opportunity on the FAFSA.
Thanks for info for other familes coming along!</p>
<p>I don't have this situation, but if I did I would also be faxing a letter to the Financial Aid office detailing the situation and expenses associated with the sibling receiving social security benefits. Generally the level of disability required to get social security disability income is very significant, and I would think that very few families would not have substantial additional costs that the school might not otherwise know about. (Such as the added cost of operating a wheelchair equipped van which gets terrible gas mileage, the cost of aides or respite caregivers, special foods,...)</p>
<p>arabrab, that was the first thing we did - send a letter outlining the circumstances and expenses. Upon my submitting additional documentation of my older daughter's social security benefits, the FA office decided not to count it against my younger daughter's financial aid package. Thank you all for responding!</p>
<p>I am glad, Catherine'smom. I did not think they would. They have to ask, because there are situations where the money has to be included, and sometimes should be included. I did not feel this was one of them, but the schools often cannot discriminate and ask from some and not others.</p>