Ask a Lawyer Series: Good news for SSI recipients living in the home of another!
By Eva M Luchini, JD
If you are receiving SSI and you live in the home of another, even a family member, this is good news for you. Social Security Administration has finalized a rule to help you keep more of your SSI check. Before you had to pay room and board or your SSI check would be reduced by up to 1/3. You would either guess at what is fair market value or you’d calculate all the family expenses and figure out your fair share. It was a hassle, and it was unfair.
But NOW, the new rule makes it very simple and fair. So long as you have a written lease (Social Security calls it a “business arrangement”) to pay at least 1/3 of the annual Federal Benefit Rate + $20, and you pay that, your SSI check will not be reduced at all.
Keep in mind the Federal Benefit Rate changes each year. For 2024 it was $943 and for 2025 it will be $967. So every year, on January 1, you do a new written lease (“business arrangement”). For 2024 your rent must be at least $334.34 and for 2025 your rent must be at least $342.34.
So long as you pay that minimum in rent and have a written agreement to show Social Security, there should be no deduction in your SSI because you live in someone else’s home. Even if that home is a million dollar mansion.
Now, you will have more of your SSI check in your pocket. To save any extra money, open an ABLE account. If you are under a conservatorship, though, you might instead open a Trust 2 account with the Washington State Endowment Trust Fund and save that extra money there because otherwise the court will require your conservator (guardian of the estate) to be bonded for funds in their control over $3,000.
If you have questions about special needs trust options, such as ABLE Accounts, pooled trusts like our Washington State Endowment Trust Fund, or proper estate planning to catch an inheritance into a special needs trust with no Medicaid payback, I can help.
Eva M Luchini, JD
Estate Planning
Special Needs Trusts
Alternatives to Guardianship
Law Office of Eva M. Luchini, PLLC
www.luchinilaw.com
360.817.0007
723 NE 4th Ave.
Camas, WA 98607