Public Benefits

Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) both allow working beneficiaries to deduct certain work-related expenses from their countable income, making it easier to qualify for benefits or, in the case of SSI, to receive a larger...

Parents giving gifts to children will sometimes provide nothing to the child with special needs while giving substantial amounts to the child’s siblings. This planning strategy can lead to trouble, as a recent Wisconsin case highlights.

When the parent of an adult with disabilities retires, the child may qualify for federal disability benefits, even if the child has never worked.

I am currently receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and my mother, with the help of her attorney, has set up a special needs trust for me. Do I necessarily need a special needs trust and would an inheritance jeopardize...

The budget deal signed by President Obama increases funding for the Social Security disability trust fund but also makes several small but important changes to the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program.

Here are a couple of tricks for determining the type of disability benefit someone is receiving, short of finding the disability award letter or contacting the Social Security Administration directly.

My daughter's first-party special needs trust was paying for several services that weren't covered by Medicaid.  I know that if my daughter dies, the state has the right to recover funds from my daughter's trust for Medicaid services that it...

The Social Security Administration (SSA) recently issued an Emergency Message to all personnel requiring workers to specifically inform Supplemental Security Income (SSI) applicants or beneficiaries of the reasons a special needs trust has been rejected by the agency.

Because of her disability, a person receiving SSI may not have worked long enough to qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits on her own work record, but many SSI beneficiaries who became disabled prior to turning 22 years...