A Social Security Benefits Q and A

Q: I have a business under my name but my spouse runs it. Would I still be eligible to receive Social Security benefits?
A: As defined by the Social Security Administration, disability is the "inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity." What is considered "substantial gainful activity" comes from the National Wage Index, which averages monthly wages across the board. They consider a person to be working any day that he or she "is the owner or part owner of a trade or business even if he or she does not actually work in the trade or business or receive any income from it."
Your business income may affect your social security benefits. The income you receive from your business, regardless of who runs it, may be considered substantial if it exceeds a determined SGA (or substantial gainful activity) level. This level is determined by comparing your business earnings to your pre disability earnings, and the earnings of a non disabled person engaged in the same business.
Q: If I pass away while I am in the Social Security Disability application process, where does my claim go?
A: According to the Social Security Administration, if a person who may be eligible for social security benefits dies (this includes Supplemental Security Income), their survivors may apply for a Lump Sum Death Payment. This means that, if you were to die in the process of applying for social security benefits, your survivors may make a case for the social security benefits you may have earned after the waiting period. To do this, surviving family members need to prove that their deceased relative did or could have qualified for social security benefits in the month that they died.
Only certain close family members are eligible for these survivors social security benefits. As part of the application process, the SSA will request information about the deceaseds Social Security record and application (if they applied for social security benefits). They will also request evidence of the deceaseds disability beginning at 14 months before the date of death.
Q: What will happen to my social security benefits, once I am already on them, and I die?
A: When you are receiving social security benefits, and have paid social security taxes, some family members may be eligible to receive survivors benefits upon your death. In general, for family members to receive survivors social security benefits, ten or so years of work will be needed (though this does vary). Survivors social security benefits can be paid to:
• A widow or widower, who will receive full benefits at retirement age, and reduced benefits starting at 60 • A disabled spouse aged 50 or over • Unmarried children under 18 (or up to 19 if attending high school) • Currently disabled children who were disabled at less than 22 years of age • Dependent parents who are 62 years old or older.

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