Ask Larry

I married a man on SSI two years ago. He has recently received a letter that he owes them money back for the last two years and that he's losing his SSI now for good.
This was all due to my income. If we get divorced, will he be able to reinstate his SSI?

Hi,

It's impossible for me to give you a definite answer. Your income and resources would no longer count against your husband in the event of a divorce, but he'd still need to meet all of the other entitlement requirements before his Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments could be resumed. Also, if there is a past overpayment of benefits outstanding then that issue would need to be resolved.

Even if your husband would qualify for SSI if you get divorced, his payments wouldn't automatically be reinstated.
He would either need to file a new application for benefits or else Social Security would need to do a redetermination, depending on whether your husband's SSI entitlement has been terminated or just suspended. Your husband may want to use the SSI benefit screener on the following website to determine whether or not he would be likely to qualify for SSI if you and he end up getting divorced: https://ssabest.benefits.gov/benefit-finder/.

Best, Jerry