A lot of people have questions about social security disability benefits and how those benefits are going to be treated when it comes to a divorce in West Virginia. Now, social security disability benefits are for somebody who becomes disabled prior to them getting to retirement age. The way these benefits work is that they are paid to you in a certain amount based on some various factors that the federal government considers you can be paid prior to being retirement age.
If for example, you become legally disabled and you’re 45 years old, then you can apply for and receive social security benefits. You pay into social security and it can cover social security disability benefits and also cover in most instances, money for you to be paid over time whenever you get to retirement age. If going through a divorce, then know that social security disability benefits cannot be divisible.
However, just because these benefits are not divisible, does not mean that they can’t be included when it comes to either child support or alimony. For example, a husband who had a lot of credits built up over the course of his life was going to be getting a pretty good payment. On the other hand, you have his spouse who doesn’t have any kind of education beyond high school and doesn’t have a huge work history. In that particular instance, she may try to get some spousal support. The courts could award alimony in that instance.
What the court will do sometimes is order some spousal support to be paid out of the social security disability benefits the other party is receiving. This is often paid when there’s a huge disparity of income. If you’ve been married for greater than 10 years, then the person can still draw off the other person’s social security, but they have to wait until they get to the age of retirement.
