Do I Have to Pay Child Support if I Get SSI?

If you are getting a divorce and you and your spouse have children, you may have questions about your child support obligation, especially if you are not currently employed and receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

SSI is a program administered by the Social Security Administration that provides monthly payments to low-income, disabled or elderly people who cannot work. If you are a parent and SSI is your only source of income, you cannot be forced to pay child support. This is because SSI is not considered income when calculating a child support obligation. You must inform the court that SSI is your only form of income, and present a statement from the Social Security Administration in order to support your claim. If you have already been ordered to pay child support before you began receiving SSI, you can ask for a modification of the order.

If you are receiving Social Security Disability (SSD) payments, on the other hand, you may still be responsible for paying child support because this is considered a form of income. If you are earning a combination of SSI and SSD benefits, in which your SSD is supplemented by SSI up to the minimum level of SSI payment, it may be possible to argue that you should not have to pay child support on the grounds that you are receiving only as much as a person on SSI would get.

If you have further questions regarding your child support obligation, we invite you to contact an Oregon divorce lawyer at McKinley Irvin. Recognized as the Pacific Northwest’s premier divorce and family law firm, we have extensive experience handling cases involving complex child support matters. Because each case is different, we encourage you to speak with one of our attorneys about your exact set of circumstances so that we can advise you on your best course of action.