Early withdrawal of SS for Alzheimer's patients?

Dear David,
I am in a position to pass on some advice I received from a family friend. I was diagnosed 3yrs ago at the age of 57 with early onset ALZ. Our friends referred us to a lawyer they used who specializes in Social Security Disability. I had all of my test completed, MRI, Neuro-psych exam and complete neurology workup. The legal team interviewed me and said, yes, they would take my case, please bring copies of MRI results, and neuropsych exam for us to include in your file. They reviewed the Med Records and then we went through the process of filing the application. I had my first SSI payment back dated to the date I was diagnosed, 52 days after the application was submitted. The law firm received 25% payment of my first SSI payment as their fee. We had 2 children under 18 at the time I was diagnosed and once I received my first check, we had to go to the SS Office in our town and apply for a minors benefit, which they we received payable to my DW as she had to be named the Representative Payee for the kids benefits, two weeks after that application was submitted. The attorney we used had worked for the SS Administration and knew how everything needed to be done. The cost of the attorney's fee was quite reasonable and there was very little stress involved. Having your ducks lined up in advance, and having the attorney involved saved me a lot of wasted time, playing games with the Feds. Social Security Disability does not count against you in terms of early withdrawl penalties, your DW with simply be converted to the regular SS payment once you reach the age for full Social Security benefits. The amount you receive will be the same as the monthly payment for the SSI payment, subject to Cost of Living increases. A good lawyer will get you over the hurdles, with a lot less stress, and you can go about doing things you can enjoy together, without worries about money. I have moved on to another stage of this disease recently, and I'm beginning to be able to do less for myself.
My final bit of advice would be to get in touch with an Elder Law Attorney and settle your Legal Affairs, perhaps a Living Trust, Medical Directives, Pourover Will, Durable Power of Attorney, and anything else they may recommend that will help smooth the course for you to continue on your DW journey with dementia, and your affairs too will be settled. Finally, you need to go over the paperwork with your children, so they can understand, why certain things were done. I hope this is helpful to you. God Bless you both.

Hi David. Others have answered your question. I just want to say how sorry I am that you and your wife are facing this at such a young age. All the best to you both.

Hi David. My husband suffered a stroke at age 62. I applied for S.S. for him. Which he got. Within a few months he was diagnosed with Dementia. Then I applied for SSI. I was told 95% of first claims are rejected. The SS office was helpful. I was diligent to fill out all the paperwork, which was all time sensitive- such as send back within 10 days of the postmark. He got SSI on first try. Also, with the help of the S.S. administration, we compared his S.S. benefits with his SSI benefits- his SSI benefits were greater. So we went that that one. Good luck in your quest to get answers and assistance.

Many misunderstandings about the use of SSI and Social Security terms. They are not the same as they are paid from different sources of funding, although both are administered by the Social Security Administration. Social Security, whether it is for retirement or disability, is based on earnings that had SS taxes paid on those earnings. Not all employment is covered, usually for teachers, some other public employees and some nonprofits, like churches. SSI is needs based, and your income and assets have to be below certain amounts, which are pretty low. SSI means Supplemental Security Income and is NOT a term that is interchangeable with SOCIAL SECURITY. It is possible for Social Security benefits to be very low, in which case a person might also apply for SSI. The disability requirements are the same under each program. However if you are outside the US I believe it is correct that you cannot receive SSI. (Before it was SSI it was basically welfare for Aged, Blind, and Disabled people.) Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) can be paid outside the US as can SS Retirement benefits. Just because a person is "disabled" however does not mean they will get disability....there are more complicated rules as to how many quarters you had to have worked, your age and how recently your work quarters were earned. So, being disabled doesn't necessarily get you benefits under either SSDI or SSI. The OP may only be able to get retirement benefits for her at age 62. Do your research on the Social Security website ssa.gov before spending money on a lawyer to tell you the same thing that is available to you online, in person at a SS office or by phone 1-800-772-1213 from the US.

Did your wife work in the US for 10 yrs (40 quarters)? If not, she will not be able to collect. Like said, she will need to be 62 to collect. It will be about 75% of the 100% she would get at 66.

She maybe able to get Social Security Disability but it may take a year or more and she will be 62 by then. You need to apply about two months before her birthday and it will start the month of her birthday.

When does she turn 62? That, depending on how much she put in to Social Security during her work career, will determine what her monthly SS income will be. Many people opt for the early SS option - those not even ill.

Do you mean take her SS retirement benefits, early, say at 62 rather than at her full retirement age? Or do you mean apply for SS disability, which you can apply for at any age? Either way you can apply online.

This is a link to what I hope will be lots of relevant information.

https://alzheimer.ca/en/Home/provincial-office-directory

You can apply for social security benefits online. You can’t really call social security & find out if a 3rd party is eligible for benefits because social security will not look up their information and discuss it with you. The social security website has all the information you need regarding eligibility.

heres a link https://www.ssa.gov/foreign/index.html
this page has contact info for people outside of the United States, links to apply for benefits online and a “benefits screening eligibility tool”. Your wife can draw social security at 62. That’s earliest social security retirement benefits can be drawn. And it will be discounted, she won’t get the full amount. What you really need to determine is if she can claim social security disability payments—she should be able to because early onset Alzheimer’s is on the list of “compassionate allowance” conditions. So she is probably eligible for social security disability even though she is not yet eligible for social security retirement.

what she will not be eligible for is SSI. If you leave the US for more than 30 days, you aren’t eligible for supplement security income.

In the US, as others have said, she needs to be 62 to collect regular Social Security. She could apply for SS disability, but by the time approval is granted, she might have turned 62 anyway.

I don't know what Canadian laws are in that regard.