Question

Can Hartford count all the money my ex received from SST as income to me if I do not live with her?

Asked on January 23rd 2012 by Jerry
I have been receiving long term disablity benefits via The Hartford. They paid for a lawyer to represent me in my SSI case. For the past two years I have received half of $3000 from The Hartford and half from the SSI. My ex-wife has sole custody of my three children. $1000 has been coming out of my Hartford check for child support. My ex applied for SSI due to my disablilty for my three children and received a lump sum of money for retroactive pay, as well as a monthly payment for each child. Now The Hartford is saying they are counting all the money my ex received as income to me. I do not live with them. So they are stopping my money and charging me all the money my ex received. So no I owe them like $20000 and they are stopping the child support payment. So I will have to pay it out of my SSI check. This leaves me with $500 to live on. Is this legal?

Answer

Answered on January 24th 2012 by Attorney Gregory Dell

Jerry, This situation can be legal if your Hartford disability policy contains language which includes SSDI offsets for your children as well. You may find this Frequently Asked Question on our website helpful: Can a disability insurance company claim an overpayment for social security disability benefits payable to a child as result of the parent’s disability?