Life Changes and Dependent Benefits an SSDI Recipient Must Report

This guide presents selected U.S. government consumer education from Social Security Administration. References to “we” or “us” in the source material refer to the issuing agency. Source dates and links appear below.

What you must report to us

Please notify us promptly by phone, mail, or in person whenever a change occurs that could affect your benefits. We explain the changes you must report to us in the next pages.

Family members receiving benefits based on your work also should report events that might affect their payments.

Information you give to another government agency may be provided to us by the other agency, but you also must report the change directly to us. NOTE: If we find that you gave us false information on purpose, we’ll stop your benefits. For the 1st violation, your benefits will stop for six months; for the 2nd violation, 12 months; and for the 3rd, 24 months. Also, if you don’t report a change, it may result in your being paid too much. If you’re overpaid, you’ll have to repay the money.

Have your Beneficiary Notice Control (BNC) number handy when you report a change. Your BNC will be on any letter we send you about your benefits. You also should be prepared to give the date of the change, and if different, the name of the person about whom the report is made.

If you work while receiving disability payments

You should tell us if you take a job or become self-employed, no matter how little you earn. Please let us know how many hours you expect to work and when your work starts or stops. If you still have a qualifying disability, you’ll be eligible for a trial work period, and you can continue receiving benefits for up to nine months. Also, tell us if you have any special work expenses because of your disability (such as specialized equipment, a wheelchair or even prescription drugs). Tell us if there’s any change in the amount of those expenses.

If you receive other disability benefits

Social Security benefits for you and your family may be reduced if you also are eligible for workers’ compensation (including payments through the black lung program). These benefits may also be reduced if you are eligible for disability benefits from certain federal, state, or local government programs. You must tell us if any of the following occur:

• You apply for another type of disability benefit
• You receive another disability benefit or a lump-sum settlement
• Your benefits change or stop

If you’re offered services under the Ticket to Work program

We may send you a “ticket” that you can use to get services to help you go to work or earn more money. You may take the “ticket” to your state vocational rehabilitation agency or to an employment network of your choice. Employment networks are private organizations that have agreed to work with us to provide employment services to beneficiaries with disabilities. Your participation in the

Ticket to Work program is voluntary and we provide the services to you at no cost. For more information, read Your Ticket to Work (Publication No. 05-10061).

If you move

When you plan to move, tell us your new address and phone number as soon as you know them. Also, please let us know the names of any family members who are getting benefits and who are moving with you. Even if you receive your benefits by direct deposit, we must have your correct address so we can send letters and other important information to you. Your benefits will be stopped if we’re unable to contact you. You can change your address with a personal my Social Security account. To create a personal my Social Security account, visit, www.ssa.gov/myaccount.

Be sure you also file a change of address with your post office.

If you change direct deposit accounts

If you change financial institutions or open a new account, be sure to say that you want to sign up for direct deposit. You can also change your direct deposit online if you have a personal my Social Security account. Or, we can change your direct deposit information over the telephone. Have your new and old bank account numbers handy when you call us. They’ll be printed on your personal checks or account statements. Changing this information takes us about 30-60 days. Don’t close your old account until you make sure your benefits are being deposited into the new account.

If you’re unable to manage your benefits

Sometimes people are unable to manage their money. When this happens, we should be notified. We can arrange to send benefits to a relative or other person who agrees to use the money to take care of the person for whom the benefits are paid. We call the person who manages someone else’s benefits a “representative payee.” For more information, read A Guide for Representative Payees (Publication No. 05-10076). NOTE: People who have “power of attorney” for someone don’t automatically qualify to be the person’s representative payee.

To help protect what’s important to you, we now offer the option to choose a representative payee in advance. Advance Designation allows capable adult and emancipated minor applicants and those who receive Social Security benefits, SSI, and Special Veterans Benefits to choose one or more persons to serve as their representative payee in the future. If you need a representative payee to assist with the management of your benefits, we will first consider your advance designees, but we must still fully evaluate them and determine their suitability at that time.

If you get a pension from work not covered by Social Security

If you start receiving a pension from a job for which you didn’t pay Social Security taxes — for example, from the federal civil service system, some state or local pension systems, nonprofit organizations, or a foreign government — your Social Security benefit may be reduced. Also, tell us if the amount of your pension changes.

If you get married or divorced

If you get married or divorced, your Social Security benefits may be affected, depending on the kind of benefits you receive.

If your benefits are stopped because of marriage or remarriage, they may be started again if the marriage ends.

If you change your name

If you change your name — by marriage, divorce, or court order — you need to tell us right away. If you don’t give us this information, your benefits will be issued under your old name. If you have direct deposit, payments may not reach your account. If you receive checks, you may not be able to cash them if your identification is different from the name on your check.

If you care for a child who receives benefits

If you receive benefits because you are caring for a disability beneficiary’s child who is younger than age 16 or has a disability, you should notify us right away if the child leaves your care. You must give us the name and address of the person with whom the child is living.

A temporary separation may not affect your benefits if you continue to have parental control over the child. However, your benefits will stop if you no longer have responsibility for the child. If the child returns to your care, we can start sending your benefits to you again.

Your benefits usually stop when the youngest, unmarried child in your care reaches age 16, unless the child has a disability.

If you become a parent after entitlement

If you become the parent of a child or an adopted child after entitlement let us know so that we may determine if the child qualifies for benefits.

If a child receiving benefits is adopted

When a child who is receiving benefits is adopted by someone else, let us know the child’s new name, the date of the adoption decree, and the adopting parent’s name and address. The adoption will not cause the child’s benefits to stop.

If you have an outstanding warrant for your arrest

You must tell us if you have an outstanding arrest warrant for any of the following felony offenses:

• Flight to avoid prosecution or confinement
• Escape from custody
• Flight-escape

You can’t receive regular disability benefits, or any underpayments you may be due, for any month in which there is an outstanding arrest warrant for any of these felony offenses.

If you’re convicted of a crime

Tell us right away if you’re convicted of a crime. Regular disability benefits, or any underpayments that may be due, aren’t paid for the months a person is confined for a crime. However, any family members who are eligible for benefits based on that person’s work may continue to receive benefits.

Monthly benefits or any underpayments that may be due usually aren’t paid to someone who commits a crime and who is confined to jail, prison, penal institution, or correctional facility. This applies if the person has been found either:

• Not guilty by reason of insanity or similar factors (such as mental disease, mental defect, or mental incompetence)
• Incompetent to stand trial

If you violate a condition of parole or probation

You must tell us if you’re violating a condition of your probation or parole imposed under federal or state law. You can’t receive regular disability benefits or any underpayment that may be due for any month in which you violate a condition of your probation or parole.

If you leave the United States

If you’re a U.S. citizen, you can travel to or live in most foreign countries without affecting your Social Security benefits. There are, however, a few countries where we can’t send Social Security payments. These countries are Azerbaijan, Belarus, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, North Korea, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. However, we can make exceptions for certain eligible beneficiaries in countries other than Cuba and North Korea. For more information about these exceptions, please contact your local Social Security office.

Let us know if you plan to go outside the United States for a trip that lasts 30 days or more. Tell us the name of the country or countries you plan to visit and the date you expect to leave the United States.

We will send you special reporting instructions and tell you how to arrange for your benefits while you’re away. Be sure to notify us when you return to the United States.

If you aren’t a U.S. citizen, and you return to live in the United States, you must provide evidence of your noncitizen status to continue receiving benefits. If you work outside the United States, different rules apply in determining whether you can get your benefits.

For more information, read Your Payments While You are Outside the United States (Publication No. 05-10137).

If your citizenship status changes

If you aren’t a U.S. citizen, let us know if you become a U.S. citizen or if your immigration status changes. If your status expires, you must give us new evidence that you are still in the United States lawfully.

If a beneficiary dies

Let us know if a person receiving Social Security benefits dies. Benefits aren’t payable for the month of death. That means, for example, if the person died any time in July, the check received in August (which is payment for July) must be returned. If direct deposit is used, also notify the financial institution of the death as soon as possible so it can return any payments received after death.

Family members may be eligible for Social Security survivors benefits when a person getting disability benefits dies.

If you’re receiving Social Security and Railroad Retirement benefits

If you’re receiving both Social Security and Railroad Retirement benefits based on your spouse’s work, and your spouse dies, you must tell us immediately. You’ll no longer be eligible to receive both benefits. You’ll be notified which survivor benefit you’ll receive.

Benefits for children

If you’re receiving benefits on behalf of a child, there are important things you should know about his or her benefits.

When a child reaches age 18

A child’s benefits stop the month before the child reaches age 18, unless the child has a disability or is a full-time elementary or secondary school student and unmarried. About three months before the child’s 18th birthday, you’ll get a letter explaining how benefits can continue. We’ll also send a letter to the child and a student form.

If your child’s benefits stopped at age 18, they can start again if they have a disability that begins before they reach age 22 or become a full-time elementary or secondary school student before reaching age 19. The student needs to contact us to reapply for benefits.

If your 18-year-old child is still in school

An 18-year-old can receive benefits until age 19 if they continue to be a full-time elementary or secondary school student. When your child’s 19th birthday occurs during a school term, benefits usually can continue until completion of the term, or for two months following their 19th birthday, whichever comes first.

You should tell us immediately if your child marries, is convicted of a crime, drops out of school, changes from full-time to part-time attendance, is expelled, suspended, or changes schools. You should also tell us if your child has an employer who is paying for your child to attend school.

In general, a student can keep receiving benefits during a vacation period of four months or less if they plan to go back to school full time at the end of the vacation.

If your child has a disability

Your child can continue to receive benefits after age 18 if they have a disability that begins before age 22. Your child also may qualify for SSI. Contact us for more information.

If you have a stepchild and get divorced

If you have a stepchild who is getting benefits based on your work, and you divorce the child’s parent, you must tell us as soon as the divorce becomes final. Your stepchild’s benefits will stop the month after the divorce becomes final.

Sources and publication details

• What You Need To Know When You Get Social Security Disability Benefits — Social Security Administration; source date: August 2026; selected sections: What you must report to us; Benefits for children.

The federal agency source text is U.S. government work in the public domain. Fynoptic selected, adapted, and formatted it for this guide. No agency endorsement is implied. Follow the linked sources for current program details and the rules applicable to your circumstances.