When a marriage ends through divorce, many states have laws allowing courts to award alimony to one of the spouses. The process for a court to award alimony in a case differs throughout the country because it is governed by state law.
Nothing prohibits a disabled person from receiving disability benefits and alimony payments simultaneously. However, federal laws and regulations may cause someone receiving alimony while on disability to see a decrease in their disability benefits because of the income they receive from their spouse.
Sackett and Associates, Northern California’s trusted source for information and outstanding representation in all matters relating to Social Security disability benefits, explains the effect of receiving alimony while on disability. Use it to determine how a divorce settlement that includes receiving alimony while on disability will affect you.
What Is Alimony?
Alimony is support payments from one spouse to another as part of a divorce settlement or a court order. The concept of alimony has been around for a long time, but many states replaced the term “alimony” with “spousal support” or “maintenance.”
Regardless of the name, the payments provide financial assistance to offset differences in one spouse’s earning capacity. For example, if one spouse remained home caring for the couple’s children while the other worked outside the home, the stay-at-home spouse may be awarded alimony. Alimony may be appropriate when a spouse is disabled and unable to work.
Unlike child support, which is mandatory in child custody, divorce, and separation cases, alimony is optional. Whether a divorce or separation settlement or court order includes an award of alimony payments depends on which spouse needs financial assistance and which spouse is able to pay it.
Another distinction is that child support is paid to the parent awarded custody and intended for the parent’s use for the child’s benefit. Alimony is for the use and benefit of the person receiving it.
If a person awarded alimony in a divorce or separation also receives disability benefits, the money awarded in the divorce or separation may affect their disability benefits. It depends on the source of the disability ability payments.
Disability Benefit Programs Through The Social Security Administration
The Social Security Administration manages two programs paying disability benefits: Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income. SSI is a needs-based program providing financial assistance to help people with limited income and resources to afford food, housing, and other essentials of everyday life.
Eligibility for the SSI program is available to adults and children who are blind or disabled and meet the income and resources requirements. Adults, age 65 and older, who are not blind or disabled, may qualify for disability benefits provided they meet the income and resource criteria.
SSDI is an entitlement program. You must have worked at jobs or through self-employment for a sufficiently long duration and paid into the Social Security system through taxes on your earnings or income. The SSDI program does not have limits on the value of assets or resources owned by a person receiving benefits.
The SSDI program limits the income you earn from working when applying for or collecting SSDI benefits. If you earn $1,550 or more per month in 2024, you are capable of substantial gainful activity (SGA) and are not disabled according to the definition used by the Social Security Administration. The monthly SGA income for someone who is blind is $2,490 in 2024. The SSA announced a 2.5% increase in SGA income limits in 2025 due to a cost-of-living adjustment.
Can You Receive Disability And Alimony Together?
Federal law does not prohibit you from combining disability and alimony income, so your SSDI benefits are unaffected by alimony payments. However, your alimony payments may reduce the benefits you receive each month through the SSI program. SSI pays $943 per month to individuals and $1,415 to couples who meet the income and resource eligibility requirements.
Receiving alimony while on disability may reduce the amount you receive from SSI. Social Security has four income categories for the SSI program:
- Earned income includes royalties, net self-employment earnings, and wages.
- Unearned income includes pensions, interest income, and cash from friends and relatives.
- In-kind income includes the fair market value of food and shelter others give you.
- Deemed income is a portion of the income of a spouse or parent with whom you live.
Alimony counts as unearned income, but you may exclude the first $20 you receive each month.If you receive monthly alimony payments of $350, only $330 counts against your monthly SSI payment. The $330 alimony payment reduces the $943 SSI benefit payment to $613.
Get Help From An Experienced Disability Benefits Lawyer
Learn more about SSI and SSDI benefits from a disability lawyer with more than 45 years of experience representing people with disability claims in California and throughout the country. Contact Sackett Law today for a free consultation and claim evaluation.
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