Resolution

Seal of the United States Social Security Administration. It appears on Social Security cards. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Last week, I shared my concern and frustration regarding a letter I had received from the Social Security Administration regarding my son and his SSI benefits.  I had already met with SSA to talk about having my son's SSI benefits increased to the full amount with no reduction.  I left the office having been told that they would be increasing his benefit to the full amount.  I thought that would be the end of it, but I received a letter from my local office stating that they needed to speak with me prior to November 30th or my son's benefit could be eliminated.

I called Monday morning and left messages for the person that I had met with on November 7th and with the person whose name was on the letter I received.  On Tuesday, I left messages with both people as well.  I also tried to speak with anybody who would answer the phone.  That person was no help at all, making excuses that they were short staffed and would not even look up my son's account.  Wednesday morning, I left messages again with the people that I thought could help me.  I never received a call back.  Thankfully, I did speak with somebody who looked up my son's records, assured me that everything was up to date, and that he would begin receiving his full benefit on January 1st.

On Friday, I checked the bank account that we are using for my son's SSI benefit and saw that he had received his normal deposit that had been reduced by the in kind support.  Today, I went into the accounts to check the balance.  I was pleasantly surprised to find a second deposit pending for my son's account.  It was for the amount that they had been reducing his benefit due to the in kind support that he had been receiving.  So, it looks like he is actually going to start receiving his full benefit this month rather than next month. It couldn't come at a better time as we have to get him a new mattress and box spring before he comes home at Christmas break.

Related articles

• Charo Boyd: SSI marks 40 years of helping people in need (heraldbulletin.com)
• Five Things to Know Before Applying for SSI for Children (sacbee.com)
• Donna Meltzer: Happy Birthday, SSI: A Safety Net for Vulnerable Americans (huffingtonpost.com)
• SSI Benefits Vital to Severely Disabled Children and Their Families (thehandiestone.typepad.com)

Our Government at Work

I had two encounters today in the span of about 10 minutes with two government entities, and neither one of them was pleasant.  No, I was not pulled over by a police officer for speeding or for any other infraction.  In fact, there were no police involved at all.  Both of the encounters took place in the same transaction, as it were.

First, let me recount an event from earlier in the month.  In a previous post, I had recounted how my autistic son is eligible for SSI benefits.  Since he is living at home, and not paying rent or for his own food, the Social Security Administration determined that he was receiving in kind support from us and reduced his eligible benefit by one third.  In the post, I discussed possibly charging him rent in order for him to get his full benefit.

In October, I wrote a letter to the Social Security Administration asking them to reconsider the reduction in his benefit.  We informed them that he was using the money to purchase his own food, which amounted to about $200 per month.  We also were going to start charging him rent of $300 per month.  Shortly after sending the letter, I received a letter from Social Security saying they wanted to review his file and eligibility.

That appointment was scheduled for November 7th.  I brought all of the documents that were requested and went to the meeting.  The meeting itself went fairly well.  I explained the situation of how we needed our son to begin contributing to the household expenses.  The woman I met with ended the meeting by telling me that our son would begin receiving his full benefit on December 1st.

Grumman LLV photographed in USA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A week or so ago, I received one of the regular communications that we get from Social Security regarding my son's benefit.  That letter said that their would be no change in his benefit amount.  I called Social Security and was told that there would be no change for December, but January 1st would be the full amount.  This was no problem as I was originally told it would take three months to make the change.

This brings me to today and my two encounters.  I was leaving the house to go to my pizza delivery gig when I saw the mail truck at our mailboxes.  I opened our mailbox and there was a card saying there was a certified letter for my son that they were unable to deliver because we weren't home.  Fortunately, the truck was still in the parking lot so I approached the mailman.

I asked him what time the post office closed so that I could go pick up the certified letter.  He replied that he had it right there in the truck.  He didn't try to deliver it to our house because our outside light was on, and he assumed we weren't home.  Well, you know the old saying about when you ASSume something.  No wonder the post office is losing money.

Seal of the United States Social Security Administration. It appears on Social Security cards. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I signed for the letter and went inside.  It was a new letter from Social Security.  At the top was written "Second and Final Notice."  It also went on to say that they needed to see me to discuss my son's case and that if they didn't see or hear from me before November 30th, that they might stop paying my son's benefit.  Needless to say, my first thought was, "WTF?"

I can only hope that the letter from Social Security is a clerical error that can be cleared up with a phone call.  The letter was requesting the exact the same information that I had taken with me to the last meeting.  I really can't afford to take another day off to try to clear this up when I already had a meeting with them.

The thing that really steams me is the postman.  Had he not still been in the parking lot of our townhouse complex, I would not have gotten the letter today.  If I hadn't seen the truck, I most likely would not have gone out to get the mail. I am not sure that I would have been able to get to the post office tomorrow to get the letter since I have to work early tomorrow.  I know that I would not have been able to pick it up during the regular week.  His assumption, and really his laziness in not doing his job properly, could have been disastrous for us.

All Grown Up

I have been an adult now for over 30 years, however these days I am feeling a little bit more grown up than I had been.  It isn't that I haven't had my share of responsibilities over the years to contribute to my being a full fledged grown up.  Being the father of an 18 year old with special needs pretty much forces you to be a grown up, whether you want to or not.

So, you may ask, what monumental event has occurred that has prompted me to feel more grown up?  My wife and I have finalized our wills.  With our son, it is particularly important for us to spell out in advance how any assets that we have are handled.  

For my son to continue to receive his SSI benefits, he can not have assets in excess of $2000.  Consequently, we can ill afford to have any assets pass directly to him.  That is why we have spelled out in our wills the establishment of a special needs trust.  This way, no assets directly pass to him, and he will maintain his eligibility to collect his benefits.

We were fortunate.  My father in law had an attorney that he deals with that he referred us to for discussing planning for our son after he turned 18.  As part of that, he has picked up the attorney fees.  Had he not done so, I could have used a benefit from my company's employee assistance program that would have allowed us to get our wills completed.

But what if you aren't that fortunate to have somebody else pick up the tab?  Well, if you happen to live in the state of Texas, you should check out Texas last will and testament.  At that website, you can find an affordable on line alternative to hiring a lawyer directly.  You fill out a questionnaire, the lawyers write your documents, and send them to you.  They give you all instructions for signing the documents.

It's as simple as that.  Regardless of whether or not you decide to go with an online will service or hire an attorney, you need to plan for your future.  You need to have all options considered so that your heirs can be in the optimal situation when that time occurs.  Not having a will, could have a negative impact on my son's ability to maintain his benefit.  It is the least I could do for him.

Related articles

• Protecting More Than Just Disability Benefits with a Special Needs Trust (pattidudek.typepad.com)
• Special Needs Trusts (pattidudek.typepad.com)
• Avoid the Biggest Mistake of Financial Planning for Special Needs Kids (dailyfinance.com)

Planning for the Future

Ever since my son turned 18 years old earlier this year, my wife and I have been busy trying to accomplish several things to benefit him.  Since he is completely disabled, the first thing that we did was to start the process of trying to get him Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits through the Social Security Administration.

That adventure took a couple of different turns.  Our first visit to Social Security was scheduled for two months prior to his 18th birthday.  We were originally told that we should apply prior to his 18th birthday so that by the time that it was approved he could start to get benefits right at his birthday.  Once we were in our meeting with Social Security, we were told we should wait until he turns 18 because otherwise they would consider our income when determining his eligibility for benefits.

A couple weeks after he turned 18, we headed back to the Social Security office to apply.  We had filled out the application and answered all of the required questions.  A few short weeks later, we received word that our son had been approved for SSI benefits, which he started receiving in June, albeit at a one third reduction due to their determination that he was receiving in kind support from us.

There are a lot of rules involved with SSI.  One of them is that in order for my son to continue to receive benefits, his total assets have to remain below $2000.  For that reason, we have also had to take some steps for estate planning should anything happen to my wife and I.  As part of that planning, we have had to set up a special needs trust so that any assets would not go directly to our son so that his assets will remain under $2000.

One of the things I was not aware of is that all wills have to go through probate.  I had always heard the horror stories of dying without a will and having your estate go through the probate courts.  It turns out that even with a will, the estate must go through probate in your state.  So, if you are in Texas, you have to through texas probate, and in Maryland, Maryland probate.  Having a will that specify how you want your estate handled makes the whole process easier.  For the sake of your loved ones, be sure to plan for the future.

What Would You Do?

via dickster1961

I am in a bit of a quandary regarding a situation with my son.  For those that are not regular reader of this blog, my son is a special needs adult who attends school away from home.  He is considered completely disabled, and thus is eligible and has been receiving, Supplemental Security Income benefits (SSI) through Social Security.

He has been receiving benefits from the program for a few months now.  However, they have been reducing his benefit by 1/3 as Social Security has determined that he is receiving "in kind support" from us because he is not paying rent.

The purpose of the SSI benefit is to provide funds for elderly or disabled individuals with limited assets and income.  Due to his disability, he will probably never have any form of significant income.  We are to use the funds to provide food, shelter, and any other living expenses that he might need, including entertainment.

The benefit that he receives has been a tremendous help for us.  It has allowed us to use the funds to buy a lot of the things he needs on a daily basis.  For instance, he has a tendency to break his glasses.  We have had to buy several replacement pairs for him.  Again, because of his disability, we have a lot of expenses that we would not have if he wasn't disabled.  As helpful as the benefit is, we go through it fairly quickly.  In fact, the first few months he received benefits we spent significantly more than he received.

Which brings me to the quandary.  As I mentioned, Social Security has reduced his benefit by 1/3 of what he is eligible to receive.  In speaking with them, it is because he is living with us and has no rent expense, though we do buy his own food for him.  Social Security told me that if I were to write a letter to them stating that my son is paying rent, as well as paying for his own food, that they would consider raising his benefit to the full amount.

When I began working, I contributed to my family by giving money to my parents for "room and board."  Since my son never really had any income, we never really considered charging him rent.  I had always hoped that I would not have to ever charge my son rent, especially once we found out that he was disabled. If my son was in a group home, they would charge him rent, and he would get his full benefit.

If I were to charge my son rent, he could get his full benefit, which would help us a lot in taking care of him. Were I to take money out of his benefit for "rent," a portion of that would be used for my son as there would not be enough money left to cover the other things we have used the money for.  So if you were me, would you maintain the status quo, or should I charge my son rent to get his full benefit?

Join me and the rest of the dudes at DudeWrite for this week's DudeWrite lineup.

SSI Approved

I had to take another personal day from work today to take care of some business for our son.  We had our third meeting at the Social Security Administration today regarding Supplemental Security Income for our son.  It looks like things are lining up nicely for it.

We scheduled our first meeting with the SSA a couple months prior to his 18th birthday.  Originally, we were told we should apply prior to his 18th birthday so that we could start to receive the income when he turned 18. Unfortunately, when we had the meeting we were told that they would consider our income and we would have to reapply after he turned 18 years old.

Our second meeting was back on April 30th, a few weeks after our son had turned 18.  In that meeting, we had all of the forms filled out ahead of time.  There were a few questions that we had to answer while the SSA representative took our application.  As the meeting came to a close, we were told that we would get a letter from the Maryland Disability Determination Services office and that the whole process would take 3-6 months.

Within a week, we  received a letter from the office along with another form that we would have to fill out for our son.  We had 10 days to return it otherwise we would be denied benefits.  Naturally, we filled it out as soon as we got it.  Our doctors also received letter from the office requesting various medical information.

About two weeks ago, we received a letter from Disability Determination stating that they had approved our claim and that we would need to go to the meeting we had today at SSA.  We answered a few more questions and learned of some of the requirements to maintain the benefits.  They told us they would be processing the claim this week.  The last thing we needed to do was to set up a checking account for my son with me as the representative payee.

It looks like our claim will be approved and we will be receiving a payment going back to April 30th.  We set up direct deposit for the account, and soon I hope to have the extra funds to care for our son.  I checked the SSA website, and it looks like he will receive $698 per month for his benefit.  This will be a tremendous help for our family.

Bang Bang

Yesterday, I took a day off from my real world job to handle some other real world business.  My wife and I had two appointments that we needed to take care of.  First, we met with a lawyer to discuss some estate planning needs.  The second appointment was with the Social Security Administration to apply for Supplemental Security Income for our son now that he is 18 years old.

The two appointments are, in a lot of ways, related.  SSI benefits are designed to help provide money to meet the needs of food, shelter, and clothing for the aged, blind, and disabled.  As a disable citizen who will most likely not have significant income, my son should quality for benefits.  In order to be eligible, my son has to have assets below a certain threshold.  So, we needed to do some estate planning so that should something happen to my wife and I, any assets we had would be held in a special needs trust rather than pass directly to him.

After we took care of all of our other business for the day, my wife and I decided to check out a new eatery here in Bowie, MD; the Bang Bang Mongolian Grill.  The experience was different from any other kind of restaurant that I have ever eaten at.  I still have not fully decided whether or not I like the whole concept or not, though I will say that I did thoroughly enjoy my meal last night.

When you enter the restaurant, you come to the register and tell them what size bowl you want for your meal.  Then, you take your bowl and go through a cafeteria style line to build your meal.  The first station you come to is the proteins.  You can load your bowl with a wide variety of proteins among with are beef, chicken, andouille sausage, shrimp, scallops, and even calamari.  I am sure I left several out.  I opted for beef and shrimp.

The next stop in the line is a large selections of vegetables that you can add to your bowl.  I selected cabbage, carrots, bean sprouts, broccoli, and onions.  I also saw green beans, corn, and several others.  Next in line was your selection of sauces.  They had about a dozen different powdered spices and liquid sauces.  Above that station were a few recipes of different sauces you could create.  I picked a selection of ingredients to create a hoisin BBQ sauce.

The last stop on the tour was the grill where the cooks will cook your bowl in front of you.  The last decision that you have to make is the type of starch you want to use in your meal.  You can choose between a number of different starches.  They have white rice, brown rice, fried rice, spaghetti noodles, and pad thai rice noodles.  I went with the rice noodles.

My meal last night was excellent.  I like that you can truly customize your bowl with the ingredients that you want in your meal.  The building of the sauces and spices makes me a little nervous.  I am not a chef, so I am not sure which combinations would work well together.  I would hate to pick items that I would end up not liking.  Consequently, I would probably tend to choose from the suggested sauce recipes detailed on the board above the sauces.

The other thing that I did not like about the experience was maneuvering through the queue with my bowl.  In addition to the bowl, they gave me my cup to get my drink at the soda fountain at the end of the line.  Then, I needed to also manage to carry individual plastic cups for my spice and sauce selections.  It probably would have been easier if they had provided trays for carrying everything, but alas, they did not.

The bottom line though is that my meal ended up being very delicious.  In spite of the complaints and/or reservations about the experience, I will most likely end up dating there again.  I will definitely pack more ingredients into my bowl, especially the proteins, and who knows, maybe I will even get a little bit more adventurous in my sauce and spice combinations.

What a Way to Spend a Birthday

Image via Wikipedia

Today is my birthday.  I usually do not like to call out attention to that fact.  I definitely do not acknowledge them in the office.  I do not like being the center of attention with cake and singing and all that sort of stuff.  Normally, I do not take the day off from work for my birthday.  It is February, so the weather is usually cold.  Today, we had a lot to do so I took the day off.

First off, our homeowners association has implemented a new parking policy.  They are now requiring us to have parking permits displayed in our cars.  The new policy takes place on March 1st, so I had to go by the management office and picked up our permits.  They required that we pick them up in person, rather than have them sent in the mail. 

Next up on the agenda was the first of two meetings in regards to our son.  The first meeting was with a lawyer to talk about getting guardianship of our son so that we can keep making the decisions regarding his care and finances.  The meeting went well enough.  The lawyer told us that the guardianship process was long and expensive and that there were other possible options to explore like power of attorney.  He emailed us a document to review on the various options.

After that meeting, we had a couple hours to kill so we headed to a nearby mall for lunch at Red Robin.  Then it was off to the local Social Security office to apply for SSI benefits for our son.  We had an appointment, and had a relatively short wait time.  Once in the office, the person assisting us with our application said that if we were to apply now, they would consider our income in assigning benefits.  Instead, she recommended that we wait until he turns 18 in April.

So, our two meeting ended up not being all that we thought they would be.  Instead, we have even more work to do on both fronts.  While the day was not quite as productive as we hoped it would be, we still received some good information.  Then again, I did not have to head into the office today.  Like the old saying goes, a bad day off still beats a good day at work. Oh, and there is one more thing planned for the evening, and that is dinner out with the wife.

Related articles

• Social Security Press Office: Patty Duke Turns 65, Applies Online for Social Security and Medicare benefits (notinvisable.wordpress.com)
• Childhood SSI Claims (farmerdreiser.wordpress.com)

Swamped

I have a lot of things going on right now.  Most of the time, I am able to keep a fairly good balance between the  real world and my blogging or online world.  By the "real world" I mean those things that I have to deal with on a daily basis like my job and my son.  The other stuff are just those things that I do to help me unwind and relax after dealing with the other stuff.

A few months ago, I took on a new position at work.  Shortly after I moved into the new position, the person who took my place left abruptly, and we have been shorthanded for a couple of months.  Plus, another coworker who had also taken on some of my old responsibilities took an extended vacation to get married.  So, I ended up pitching in on my old desk while also trying to move into my new responsibilities.

We finally got back up to full staff again a few weeks ago.  Needless to say, I am not far along as I would like to be in my new project.  So now I am trying to get caught up to where I would like to be.  Normally, I get to the office around 8:30 each day, and stay until a little after 5:00.  This week, I have been trying to get to the office by 7:00 to get more work in.  I am also taking work home with me on the weekend.  It is a bit harder to work from home, as the VPN can be a bit slow.

On top of that, we have several things going on with our son in the upcoming weeks.  With his 18th birthday coming up later this year, we have a number of things we need to do for him.  First we need to apply with the Social Security Administration to get Supplemental Security Income.  We also have a meeting scheduled with an attorney to retain guardianship for him for when he turns 18 so that we can still make decisions for him for his day to day care since he is incapable of making those decisions on his own.

I hope that with all of those things going on that I will still be able to blog here on a nearly daily basis.  The reality of it is that there is a pretty good chance that I will miss a few more days here and there updating the blog.  While this is fun for me and a nice outlet, there are a few things that take a higher priority.  Thanks for your patience.

Preparing for Adulthood

Image via Wikipedia

We have a lot of things upcoming that we have to take care of for our son.  It is a big year for us because in a little less than two months, he becomes an adult.  Consequently, because of his disabilities, we have to get started with a couple of processes.  Today, my wife and I met with my in-laws since they have already been through these processes with our nephew.

One of the things that we need to get started with is applying with the Social Security Administration to receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for our son.  SSI is a program that helps the aged, blind, and disabled people with little or no income to provide funds for basic needs like food, clothing, and shelter.  We have an appointment with SSA at the end of the month.

As my son has gotten older, it has become painfully obvious that he will not be able to provide and care for himself as he enters into adulthood.  We have known all along that this would probably be the case, but we have always held out hope that he would be able to do more things for himself and be able to work.  Currently, he does do a little work in a sheltered workshop at school, but his ability to consistently work and earn money is lacking.  He made less than $100 last year.

If my son is declared eligible for SSI benefits, it would be a tremendous benefit for our family.  I would be made the payee of the benefits, and would have to set up a custodial checking account for him.  All of the money that gets paid into the account would need to be used for his needs, such as food, clothing, medical expenses, and some entertainment.  We will need to do detailed record keeping of how we are using the funds for his benefit. I am hopeful that the this additional income for him would allow me to cut back or stop working at my pizza delivery job.

The other thing that we are going to have to do is meet with a lawyer to apply with the courts to have guardianship of our son after he turns 18.  This will allow us to be the ones to make decisions for his care and well being since he will not be able to do so.  The government assumes that when our son reaches the age of 18 that he will be responsible for making his own decisions for his care unless the courts say otherwise.  My father in law provided us with the name of an attorney to get the process rolling.

It will be important for us to retain the guardianship after he turns 18 for a number of reasons.  In the event that he ends up needing medical care for any reason, that we be able to make those decisions for him.  Without having guardianship, if our son says he does not want treatment, then the doctors would not be able to legally treat him.  It will also allow me to retain him on my health insurance plan at work.  Wish us well as we embark on this next phase of being the parents of a child with autism and other disabilities.

Related articles

• Social Security Disability Benefits: Are You Eligible for It? (socyberty.com)
• Social Security Q&A (seattletimes.nwsource.com)