SSI & Child Support

Under current law, the Social Security Administration (SSA) excludes one-third of child support payments received in a month on behalf of a child on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) from countable income in determining the SSI payment.

Because of this exclusion of one-third of the child support, in general a child who receives SSI and child support will be better off than one who receives SSI only. Of course this assumes the child support payments are received.

The following calculation is somewhat dated, but it shows the effect of child support on the SSI benefit of a child with no other income.

Federal benefit rate                         $545 
Average child support amount                  182 
Minus 1/3 child support amount                -61 
Minus $20 general income exclusion            -20 
Total countable child support                 101 
Resulting SSI benefit ($545-$101)             444 
Total income available to the child 
(SSI benefit, $444, plus child support, $182) 626 

I recommend contacting Social Security directly if you have further questions on this.

https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0500830420

http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/policybriefs/pb2004-02.html

http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v64n1/v64n1p16.pdf