(a) If you have an ineligible spouse—(1) Counting income. If you apply for or receive SSI benefits, and you are married to someone who is not eligible for SSI benefits and are living in the same household as that person, we may count part of that person's income as yours. Counting part of that person's income as yours may reduce the amount of your benefits or even make you ineligible. Section 416.410 discusses the amount of benefits and § 416.1163 explains how we count income for an individual with an ineligible spouse.

(2) Counting resources. If you are married to someone who is not eligible for SSI benefits and are living in the same household as that person, we will count the value of that person's resources (money and property), minus certain exclusions, as yours when we determine your eligibility. Section 416.1202(a) gives a more detailed statement of how we count resources and § 416.1205(a) gives the limit of resources allowed for eligibility of a person with an ineligible spouse.

(b) If you have an eligible spouse—(1) Counting income. If you apply for or receive SSI benefits and have an eligible spouse as defined in § 416.1801(c), we will count your combined income and calculated the benefit amount for you as a couple. Section 416.412 gives a detailed statement of the amount of benefits and subpart K of this part explains how we count income for an eligible couple.

(2) Counting resources. If you have an eligible spouse as defined in § 416.1801(c), we will count the value of your combined resources (money and property), minus certain exclusions, and use the couple's resource limit when we determine your eligibility. Section 416.1205(b) gives a detailed statement of the resource limit for an eligible couple.

(c) If you are married, we do not consider you a child. The rules for counting income and resources are different for children than for adults. (Section 416.1851 discusses the effects of being considered a child on eligibility and amount of benefits.) Regardless of your age, if you are married we do not consider you to be a child.

(d)(1) General rule: Benefits depend on whether you are married or not married at the beginning of each month. If you get married, even on the first day of a month we will treat you as single until the next month. If your marriage ends, even on the first day of a month, we will treat you as married until the next month.

(2) Exception: If you both meet eligibility requirements after your date of marriage or after your marriage ends. If, in the month that you marry, each of you first meets all eligibility requirements after the date of your marriage, we will treat you as an eligible couple for that month. If, in the month that your marriage ends, each of you first meets all eligibility requirements after the date your marriage ends, we will treat you as eligible individuals. (See subparts D and E regarding how your benefits will be prorated.)

(a) We will consider someone to be your spouse (and therefore consider you to be married) for SSI purposes if—

(1) You are legally married under the laws of the State where your and his or her permanent home is (or was when you lived together);

(2) We have decided that either of you is entitled to husband's or wife's Social Security insurance benefits as the spouse of the other (this decision will not affect your SSI benefits for any month before it is made); or

(3) You and an unrelated person of the opposite sex are living together in the same household at or after the time you apply for SSI benefits, and you both lead people to believe that you are husband and wife.

(b) if more than one person would qualify as your husband or wife under paragraph (a) of this section, we will consider the person you are presently living with to be your spouse for SSI purposes.

When you apply for SSI benefits, we will ask whether you are married. If you are married, we will ask whether you are living with your spouse. If you are unmarried or you are married but not living with your spouse, we will ask whether you are living in the same household with anyone of the opposite sex who is not related to you. If you are, we will ask whether you and that person lead other people to believe that you are husband and wife.

(a) General rule: Proof is unnecessary. If you tell us you are married we will consider you married unless we have information to the contrary. We will also consider you married, on the basis of your statement, if you say you are living with an unrelated person of the opposite sex and you both lead people to believe you are married. However, if we have information contrary to what you tell us, we will ask for evidence as described in paragraph (c).

(b) Exception: If you are a child to whom parental deeming rules apply. If you are a child to whom the parental deeming rules apply and we receive information from you or others that you are married, we will ask for evidence of your marriage. The rules on deeming parental income are in §§ 416.1165 and 416.1166. The rules on deeming of parental resources are in § 416.1202.

(c) Evidence of marriage. If paragraph (a) or (b) of this section indicates that you must show us evidence that you are married, you must show us your marriage certificate (which can be the original certificate, a certified copy of the public record of marriage, or a certified copy of the church record) if you can. If you cannot, you must tell us why not and give us whatever evidence you can.

(a) General rule: Proof is unnecessary. If you do not live with an unrelated person of the opposite sex and you say that you are not married, we will generally accept your statement unless we have information to the contrary.

(b) Exception: If you are under age 22 and have been married. If you are under age 22 and have been married, to prove that your marriage has ended you must show us the decree of divorce or annulment or the death certificate if you can. If you cannot, you must tell us why not and give us whatever evidence you can.

(c) Exception: If you are living with an unrelated person of the opposite sex. (1) If you are living with an unrelated person of the opposite sex, you and the person you are living with must explain to us what your relationship is and answer questions such as the following:

(i) What names are the two of you known by?

(ii) Do you introduce yourselves as husband and wife? If not, how are you introduced?

(iii) What names are used on mail for each of you?

(iv) Who owns or rents the place where you live?

(v) Do any deeds, leases, time payment papers, tax papers, or any other papers show you as husband and wife?

(2) We will consider you married to the person you live with unless the information we have, including the answers to the questions in paragraph (c)(1) of this section, all considered together, show that the two of you do not lead people to believe that you are each other's husband and wife.

We will stop considering you and your spouse an eligible couple, even if you both remain eligible, at the beginning of whichever of these months comes first—

(a) The calendar month after the month you stopped living with your eligible spouse, or

(b) The calendar month after the month in which your marriage ends.

We consider your marriage ended when—

(a) Your spouse dies;

(b) Your divorce or annulment becomes final;

(c) We decide that either of you is not a spouse of the other for purposes of husband's or wife's social security insurance benefits, if we considered you married only because of § 416.1806(a)(2); or

(d) You and your spouse stop living together, if we considered you married only because of § 416.1806(a)(3).

(a) If you and your spouse stop living together. If you and your spouse stop living together, you must promptly report that fact to us, so that we can decide whether there has been a change that affects either person's benefits. You must also answer questions such as the following. If you cannot answer our questions you must tell us why not and give us whatever information you can.

(1) When did you stop living together?

(2) Do you expect to live together again?

(3) If so, when?

(4) Where is your husband or wife living?

(5) Is either of you living with someone else as husband and wife?

(b) Evidence of end of marriage—(1) Death. We will accept your statement that your husband or wife died unless we have information to the contrary. If we have contrary information, you must show us the death certificate if you can. If you cannot, you must tell us why not and give us whatever evidence you can.

(2) Divorce or annulment. If your marriage ends by divorce or annulment, you must show us the decree of divorce or annulment if you can. If you cannot, you must tell us why not and give us whatever evidence you can.

(3) Other reason. If your marriage ends for reasons other than death, divorce, or annulment, you must give us any information we ask you to give us about the end of the marriage. If you cannot, you must explain why you cannot. We will consider all of the relevant information to decide if and when your marriage ends.

(a) What is in this subpart. This subpart contains the basic rules for deciding for SSI purposes whether a person is considered married and, if so, to whom; whether a person is considered a child; and whether a person is considered another person's parent. It tells what information and evidence we need to decide these facts.

(b) Related subparts. Subpart D discusses how to determine the amount of a person's benefits; subpart G discusses what changes in a person's situation he or she must report to us; subpart K discusses how we count income; and subpart L discusses how we count resources (money and property). The questions of whether a person is married, to whom a person is married, whether a person is a child, and who is a person's parent must be answered in order to know which rules in subparts D, G, K, and L apply.

(c) Definitions. In this subpart—

Eligible spouse means a person—

(1) Who is eligible for SSI,

(2) Whom we consider the spouse of another person who is eligible for SSI, and

(3) Who was living in the same household with that person on—

(i) The first day of the month following the date the application is filed (for the initial month of eligibility for payment based on that application);

(ii) The date a request for reinstatement of eligibility is filed (for the month of such request); or

(iii) The first day of the month, for all other months. An individual is considered to be living with an eligible spouse during temporary absences as defined in § 416.1149 and while receiving continued benefits under section 1611(e)(1) (E) or (G) of the Act.

Spouse means a person's husband or wife under the rules of §§ 416.1806 through 416.1835 of this part.

We and us mean the Social Security Administration.

You means a person who has applied for or has been receiving SSI benefits, or a person for whom someone else has applied for or has been receiving SSI benefits.

If we consider you to be a child for SSI purposes, the rules in this section apply when we determine your eligibility for SSI and the amount of your SSI benefits.

(a) If we consider you to be a student, we will not count all of your earned income when we determine your SSI eligibility and benefit amount. Section 416.1110 tells what we mean by earned income. Section 416.1112(c)(2) tells how much of your earned income we will not count.

(b) If you have a parent who does not live with you but who pays money to help support you, we will not count one-third of that money when we count your income. Section 416.1124(c)(9) discusses this rule.

(c) If you are under age 18 and live with your parent(s) who is not eligible for SSI benefits, we consider (deem) part of his or her income and resources to be your own. If you are under age 18 and live with both your parent and your parent's spouse (stepparent) and neither is eligible for SSI benefits, we consider (deem) part of their income and resources to be your own. Sections 416.1165 and 416.1166 explain the rules and the exception to the rules on deeming your parent's income to be yours, and § 416.1202 explains the rules and the exception to the rules on deeming your parent's resources to be yours.

We consider you to be a child if—

(a)(1) You are under 18 years old; or

(2) You are under 22 years old and you are a student regularly attending school or college or training that is designed to prepare you for a paying job;

(b) You are not married; and

(c) You are not the head of a household.

(a) Are you a student? You are a student regularly attending school or college or training that is designed to prepare you for a paying job if you are enrolled for one or more courses of study and you attend class—

(1) In a college or university for at least 8 hours a week under a semester or quarter system;

(2) In grades 7-12 for at least 12 hours a week;

(3) In a course of training to prepare you for a paying job, and you are attending that training for at least 15 hours a week if the training involves shop practice or 12 hours a week if it does not involve shop practice (this kind of training includes anti-poverty programs, such as the Job Corps, and government-supported courses in self-improvement); or

(4) Less than the amount of time given in paragraph (a) (1), (2), or (3) of this section for reasons you cannot control, such as illness, if the circumstances justify your reduced credit load or attendance.

(b) If you are instructed at home. You may be a student regularly attending school if you are instructed at home in grades 7-12 in accordance with a home school law of the State or other jurisdiction in which you reside and for at least 12 hours a week.

(c) If you have to stay home. You may be a student regularly attending school, college, or training to prepare you for a paying job if—

(1) You have to stay home because of your disability;

(2) You are studying at home a course or courses given by a school (grades 7-12), college, university, or government agency; and

(3) A home visitor or tutor directs your study or training.

(d) When you are not in school—(1) When school is out. We will consider you to be a student regularly attending school, college, or training to prepare you for a paying job even when classes are out if you actually attend regularly just before the time classes are out and you—

(i) Tell us that you intend to resume attending regularly when school opens again; or

(ii) Actually do resume attending regularly when school opens again.

(2) Other times. Your counselor or teacher may believe you need to stay out of class for a short time during the course or between courses to enable you to continue your study or training. That will not stop us from considering you to be a student regularly attending school, college, or training to prepare you for a paying job if you are in—

(i) A course designed to prepare disabled people for work; or

(ii) A course to prepare you for a job that is specially set up for people who cannot work at ordinary jobs.

(e) Last month of school. We will consider you to be a student regularly attending school, college, or training to prepare you for a paying job for the month in which you complete or stop your course of study or training.

(f) When we need evidence that you are a student. We need evidence that you are a student if you are 18 years old or older but under age 22, because we will not consider you to be a child unless we consider you to be a student.

(g) What evidence we need. If we need evidence that you are a student, you must—

(1) Show us any paper you have that shows you are a student in a school, college, or training program, such as a student identification card or tuition receipt; and

(2) Tell us—

(i) What courses you are taking;

(ii) How many hours a week you spend in classes;

(iii) The name and address of the school or college you attend or the agency training you; and

(iv) The name and telephone number of someone at the school, college, or agency who can tell us more about your courses, in case we need information you cannot give us.

(a) Meaning of head of household. You are the head of a household if you have left your parental home on a permanent basis and you are responsible for the day-to-day decisions on the operation of your own household. If you live with your parent(s) or stepparents, we will ordinarily assume you are not the head of a household. However, we will consider you to be the head of a household if for some reason (such as your parent's illness) you are the one who makes the day-to-day decisions. You need not have someone living with you to be the head of a household.

(b) If you share decision-making equally. If you live with one or more people and everyone has an equal voice in the decision-making (for example, a group of students who share off-campus housing), that group is not a household. Each person who has left the parental home on a permanent basis is the head of his or her own household.

If we consider you to be a student, we will not count all of your earned income when we determine your SSI eligibility and benefit amount. If you are an ineligible spouse or ineligible parent for deeming purposes and we consider you to be a student, we will not count all of your income when we determine how much of your income to deem. Section 416.1110 explains what we mean by earned income. Section 416.1112(c)(3) explains how much of your earned income we will not count. Section 416.1161(a)(27) explains how the student earned income exclusion applies to deemors.

We consider you to be a student if you are under 22 years old and you regularly attend school or college or training that is designed to prepare you for a paying job as described in § 416.1861(a) through (e).

We need evidence that you are a student if you are under age 22 and you expect to earn over $65 in any month. Section 416.1861(g) explains what evidence we need.

Section 416.1851 (b) and (c) tells what effects a parent's income and resources can have on his or her child's benefits.

(a) We consider your parent to be—

(1) Your natural mother or father; or

(2) A person who legally adopted you.

(b) We consider your stepparent to be the present husband or wife of your natural or adoptive parent. A person is not your stepparent if your natural or adoptive parent, to whom your stepparent was married, has died, or if your parent and stepparent have been divorced or their marriage has been annulled.

(c) Necessary evidence. We will accept your statement on whether or not someone is your parent or stepparent unless we have information to the contrary. If we have contrary information, you must show us, if you can, one or more of the following kinds of evidence that would help to prove whether or not the person is your parent or stepparent: Certificate of birth, baptism, marriage, or death, or decree of adoption, divorce, or annulment. If you cannot, you must tell us why not and show us any other evidence that would help to show whether or not the person is your parent or stepparent.