This report provides an overview of the potential effects of marriage on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) eligibility and benefits. It includes an overview of the SSI program, information on the SSI resource limits, and a discussion of how the marriage of an SSI beneficiary to either another beneficiary or an ineligible person can affect his or her eligibility for benefits or monthly benefit level. In some cases, marriage may result in a person being denied SSI benefits or having his or her monthly SSI benefit level reduced. This situation has been called a "marriage penalty" by the National Council on Disability. SSI Resource Limits

Individuals and couples must have limited assets or resources in order to qualify for SSI benefits. Excluded resources include an individual's home, a single car used for essential transportation and other assets specified by law and regulation. As a result, they are entitled to a federal benefit of up to $1,011 per month and may have countable resources valued at up to $3,000. Resource Limitations

Single SSI beneficiaries can have countable resources valued at up to $2,000. Generally, the income and assets of both persons in a marriage are considered shared and equally available to either person, which can result in an increase in the beneficiary's countable income or resources after marriage. Deeming of Income

When an SSI beneficiary marries a person who does not receive SSI benefits, a portion of the ineligible spouse's income is assigned, or deemed, to the SSI beneficiary and is counted as income for the purposes of determining benefit eligibility and the amount of monthly benefits. If, however, the final countable income of the ineligible spouse is greater than the difference between the monthly federal SSI benefit rate for a couple and the monthly federal SSI benefit rate for an individual, then the beneficiary and his or her spouse are considered a couple and eligible to receive SSI benefits at the level for a couple. The income of the ineligible spouse is not considered when determining the benefit amount in this case.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a major benefit program for low-income persons with disabilities and senior citizens. As a means tested program, SSI places income and resource limits on individuals and married couples for the purposes of determining their eligibility and level of benefits. To become and remain eligible to receive SSI benefits, single individuals may not have countable resources valued at more than $2,000 and married couples may not have countable resources valued at more than $3,000. Although a person's home and car are excluded from these calculations, most other assets owned by a person or married couple are counted and in most cases, the assets of both partners in a marriage are considered shared and equally available to both the husband and the wife.
A person's countable income must be below SSI program guidelines to qualify for benefits and a person's monthly benefit level is reduced by a portion of his or her earned and unearned income. The income of a person ineligible for SSI can be considered when calculating the benefit amount of that person's spouse. A complicated process of deeming is used to determine how much of the ineligible person's income is to be considered when calculating his or her spouse's monthly SSI benefits.
In some cases marriage may result in a person being denied SSI benefits or seeing his or her SSI benefit level reduced because of the increase in family income or assets that results from the marriage. This can occur if an SSI beneficiary marries another SSI beneficiary or a person not in the SSI program. This potential effect of marriage on the SSI eligibility and benefits of SSI beneficiaries has been called a "marriage penalty" by the National Council on Disability.
This report provides an overview of the potential effect of a marriage to another SSI recipient or an ineligible person on an individual's eligibility for and level of SSI benefits. Examples of cases in which a marriage can reduce a person's SSI benefits are provided. This report will be updated to reflect any legislative changes.