The Oklahoma Bar Journal February 2024

someone else paying directly to the vendor for everything else, includ ing a car, car expenses, internet access, cable TV, entertainment, travel, cellphone or insurance that is not required by a lender or land lord. 6 For earned income, the SSA deducts $65 from the gross, divides it by two and deducts the rest from the $943 monthly payment. 7 There is a limit on how much the SSA will deduct from an SSI check if the recipient is receiving free food or shelter. The most the SSA will reduce the SSI payment is one-third of the $943 maximum. If the SSI recipient is paying their pro rata share of household expenses, there is no reduction in payment. 8 For minor beneficiaries , the rules are the same, except that the SSA counts the income of a parent the child lives with. However, not all income of a child’s parents is counted when calculating a child’s SSI payment. 9 Everything you think of as an asset 10 counts as an SSI asset, except a home; household goods, clothing and jewelry; one vehicle of unlimited value; an irrevoca ble prepaid funeral with no cap on cost; prepayment of burial plots, SSI ASSETS

Statements or opinions expressed in the Oklahoma Bar Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff.

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THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL