The DAC Age Limit is Woefully Out of Date
Disabled Adult Child (DAC) is a Social Security benefits program that is not well-known but serves as a lifeline for young adults with severe disabilities who have not worked long enough to qualify for meaningful disability benefits. It provides long-term financial support and, often, Medicare coverage to individuals who developed a qualifying disability before age 22, allowing them to receive payments based on a parent’s Social Security earnings record. If they qualify, a disabled adult child is eligible to receive one-half of a parent’s full retirement-age benefit during the parent’s lifetime. After the parent passes away, they will receive a bump up to 75% of the full retirement-age benefit. The DAC benefit does not reduce the parent’s benefits.
The key DAC eligibility requirements are:
- Age: Must be at least 18 years old
- Marital Status: The child must be unmarried, though they may marry another DAC.
- Age at Disability: The disability must have started before age 22.
- Definition of Disability: The adult child must meet the Social Security Administration’s definition of disability for adults.
- Income Limits: They must demonstrate that they are unable to engage in substantial gainful activity (SGA) which means they must not be earning more than $1,690 per month or if they are blind not more than $2,830 per month (These are 2026 amounts. The SGA limit is adjusted for inflation each year).
- Parent’s Record: The parent must be receiving Social Security retirement or disability benefits or be deceased.
In our view, the age requirement for eligibility which dictates that the disability must have started before age 22 is like many Social Security rules: It is outdated. If an individual becomes disabled after their 22nd birthday, they are ineligible for benefits and are out in the cold. The problem with this cutoff is that even after age 22, many young adults probably have not worked long enough and accrued enough work credits to receive meaningful benefits. Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) eligibility and the amount of benefits payable are based on how much you have worked in the ten years prior to your Social Security disability claim. The problem is that here in the 21st century, many young people at 22 have just graduated from college, or are in vocational school, or in some other form of advanced training. They just haven’t earned many, or in some cases even any, work credits.
Federal policy elsewhere has already adapted to the reality that economic independence for a young person may happen later than it did for their parents or grandparents. For example, the Affordable Care Act allows children to remain on their parents’ health insurance policies until they are 26 years old. This provision recognizes that many young adults may not be established in their careers until their mid-20s.
“Disabled before 22 is a narrow window,” Nash Attorney Dan Rosen points out, “particularly because SGA before 22 or marriage can eliminate DAC eligibility. Although setting any age limit is somewhat arbitrary, we believe that mirroring the ACA and raising the age to 26 would be a reasonable and sensible step in the right direction.”
The disability lawyers at Nash Disability Law are your Chicagoland go-to experts on Social Security Disability law. Contact us for a free evaluation of your disability case and to learn more strategies to help you win the disability benefits you have rightfully earned. You can find out for FREE if your family member qualifies for Disabled Adult Child benefits by contacting us.
