Hi I am on disability and have been for 4 years my husband had knee surgery in october of last year and now is suffering from complex regional pain syndrome crps it is a severe type of nerve damage and is having to sign up for disability. I read in one of the posts that a spouse could draw off of the other spouses disability pay if they are unable to work. would he be able to draw off of my disability with the way he is now or if he gets approved for disability on his medical condition would I be able to draw off his since I am unable to work...just curious hope this dosen't confuse anyone I just got to thinking about it and was wondering...thanx for any help you could give.Hope everyone has a good day.
thank you
beth :wave:

i guess i am not quite sure just exactly what it is you are asking since you are already on disability.If he applies and gets it too,you would both be individually disabled and would have your own seperate awarded benefits.at least this is the impression I have been getting from the research i have done on it.I know a child can draw off of the parents acct,i just have never heard of a spouse doing that before.

If your husband has been confirmed as having RSD his chances of being awarded benefits is very good.they just recently changed the ruling on awarding benefits to RSD patients.I too have RSD in my R knee down thru my foot and just had to have two surgeries within the last month on that affected knee,i can hardly wait to see just what comes next since surgery and RSD just do not mix real well.

Mine stemmed from a spinal cord surgery that left behind alot of damage and also damaged my sympathetic nervous system which,you guessed it,triggered the flippin RSD.Its a hellish little nightmare all by itself but combined with all of the secondary spinal cord injuries well,you know.

whether or not your hubby actually gets awarded benefits tho really will come down to just what he can and cannot actually do anymore because of the effects of the RSD alone and the flippin treatments,and of course,the pain.this truely is the most bizarre and hidious type of hellish burning pain i have ever experienced in my life.i also had and have alot of mechanical problems with the knee as well just from years of wear and tear and a lovely bakers cyst that decided to form there.this is what needed to be removed with the surgery.

I wish you and your hubby lots of luck.i do feel for your hubby though,RSD really IS sooo freaky and painful.what types of meds is he currently taking for it as far as pain control?Marcia

Comments I had made were incorrect Sorry

I don't know the current rule. But it used to be a spouse (wife) could draw SSDI off the other's spouses (husband's) SS number if and only if the wife was at least 50 years old AND Husband was dead.


Just a couple years ago, A "relative of a realtive" of mine became disabled/blind and could NOT receive SSDI because she had never worked under SS. She could not draw on her husbands number. Her husband definatly worked for decades under SS but her husband was still alive. She also was not 50.

Hey Beth: The only time I've heard of this, is with regular Social Security. When a husband and wife are both on SS and the husband passes away, and 75% of his benefits are more than the wife's benefits, then she can elect to receive that 75% of her deceased husband's benefits in place of hers. Make any sense? I hope so, as that was the situation my parents had. When my Dad passed away, my Mom drew 75% of his bennefits, because that was more than her benefits.

I too have only heard of this via regular SS not SSDI but actually a spouse doesn't have to be deceased. My MIL is a widow and divorced she had the option at age 65 to draw either off her deceased husband or her ex husband. She chose her ex husband because he had paid much more into SS than the deceased who had died at a very young age.

Countrykid could you point us in the direction where it says you can draw off your spouse's SS if you don't have enough credits for SSDI? I've searched their web site but did not see an answer there.

As to the question, the spouse would have to apply for benefits himself. The one time that I do know when a spouse can get income in addition to the spouse who is getting disability is when the non disabled spouse is caring for any children under the age of 16.