Understanding Supplemental Security Income
Living Arrangements2011 Edition

  WHY  IS  MY  LIVING  ARRANGEMENT  IMPORTANT?  

Your living arrangement is another factor used to determine how much SSI you can get.

This means your SSI benefits may vary depending on where you live:

	in your own place such as a house, apartment, or mobile home; or
	in someone else's household; or
	in a group care or board and care facility; or
	in an institution.

For more information on living arrangements, see the SSI Spotlight on Living Arrangements .

We may reduce your SSI benefits because of your living arrangements when you:

	live in another person's house, apartment, or mobile home, and you pay less than your fair share of your food or housing costs;
	live in your own house, apartment, or mobile home, and someone else pays for all or part of your food, rent, mortgage, or other things like electricity and heating fuel;
	are in a hospital or nursing home for the whole month and Medicaid pays for over one half of the cost of your care;
	are a minor child and private insurance and Medicaid together pay over half your bill; or
	are in an institution run by a Federal, State, or local government for the whole month and Medicaid is paying 50% or more of your expenses. In most government institutions, you cannot get any SSI benefits unless Medicaid is paying more than one–half of your bills. If you are in a medical treatment facility and Medicaid is paying 50% or more of your expenses, you may be eligible for $30 a month.

If you will be in a medical institution for 90 days or less, you may be able to receive your regular SSI benefit. See the SSI Spotlight on Continued Benefits for Persons Who are Temporarily Institutionalized.

You may also wish to see our regulations for "In–Kind Support and Maintenance," beginning with 20 CFR 416.1130 and continuing through 20 CFR 416.1149, which include rules about living arrangements.

Sections 2141–2145. and 2147 in Chapter 21 of the Social Security Handbook also cover the same subjects.

  WHAT  IF  YOU  ARE  HOMELESS?  

We figure your benefit amount the same as we do for a person who lives in his own house, apartment, or mobile home.

  CAN  YOU  RECEIVE  SSI  BENEFITS  WHILE  LIVING  IN  A  
  PUBLIC  SHELTER  FOR  THE  HOMELESS?  

Yes. You can receive up to the maximum SSI benefit payable in your State while living in a public shelter for up to six months out of any nine month period.

  WHERE  WILL  YOU  GET  YOUR  SSI  BENEFITS  IF  YOU  DON'T  
  HAVE  AN  ADDRESS?  

You don't need an address to get SSI benefits. We will make arrangements to pay you.

For more information on how we can help you when you are homeless, see the SSI Spotlight on Homelessness. Also, please visit our web site, Service to the Homeless at: www.socialsecurity.gov/homelessness.

WHAT IS IN-KIND SUPPORT AND MAINTENANCE?

In-kind support and maintenance is food or shelter that somebody else provides for you. We count in-kind support and maintenance as income when we figure the amount of your SSI benefits. For example, if someone helps pay for your rent, mortgage, food, or utilities, we reduce the amount of your SSI benefits. Receiving in-kind support and maintenance can reduce your monthly SSI benefits as much as $244.66, depending on the value of the help you receive.

We do not count in-kind support and maintenance if you:

	live alone and pay for your own food and shelter;
	live only with your spouse and minor children and nobody outside the household pays for your food and shelter; or
	live with other people and pay your share of the food and shelter expenses.

HOW DOES MY LIVING ARRANGEMENT AFFECT MY SSI BENEFIT AMOUNT?

Your living arrangement is where you live, if you live alone or with someone else, or if you live in an institution, such as a nursing home. Your living arrangement also depends on who pays for your food and shelter. Whether you live alone or with someone else, we need to know who pays for your food, shelter, and utilities. Here are some examples of common living arrangement situations.

EXAMPLE A: If you live alone in an apartment

Suppose you live alone and your only income is SSI. Your brother pays your rent of $800. We count this payment as in-kind support and maintenance. Although the rent is $800, we limit how much of the $800 we count by using a presumed maximum value rule. The presumed maximum value is equal to 1/3 of the Federal benefit rate plus $20. Here are the steps we use to figure the SSI benefit amount.

1. The SSI Federal Benefit Rate is $674.00

2. One third of the SSI Federal Benefit Rate of $674 is $224.66.

3.    224.66 (1/3 of the Federal Benefit Rate)
        +20.00 (from the presumed maximum value rule)
      ------------------------------------------------------------------------
      =$244.66 (the presumed maximum value of in-kind support and maintenance)

4.    $244.66 (the presumed maximum value of in-kind support and maintenance)
          -20.00 (general exclusion)
        ----------------------------------------------------------------------
      = $224.66 (the amount of the reduction due to in-kind support and maintenance)

5.    $674.00 (Federal Benefit Rate)
        -224.66 (reduction due to in-kind support and maintenance
        ----------------------------------------------------------------------
         = $449.34 (your SSI benefit amount)

EXAMPLE B: If you live alone in a home that you own

Suppose you live alone in a home that you own and your only income is SSI. Your son pays your electric bill of $100, your phone bill of $50 per month, and your cable television bill of $75 per month. We do not count the payment of the phone bill or the cable television bill as in-kind support and maintenance so these payments do not affect your SSI benefits. However, we count payment of the $100 electric bill as in-kind support and maintenance. Because SSI is your only income, we apply the $20 general exclusion to the $100 electric bill payment. This leaves $80 as countable in-kind support and maintenance. We determine you SSI benefit amount as follows:

$674.00 (the SSI Federal Benefit Rate)

EXAMPLE C: If you live in another person’s household and share expenses.

Suppose you live with your brother, and 2 uncles in a home that your brother is buying and your only income is SSI. There are 4 people in the household. The mortgage payment is $700. The average monthly bills are $200 for electricity, $100 for water and sewer, and $600 for food. The total monthly expenses are $1600. Because there are 4 people in the household, your share of the expenses is $400 per month.

If you pay your full share of $400 for the household expenses there would be no reduction of your benefit and you would get the full $674 on your SSI check.

If you pay less than $400, then you would be receiving in-kind support and maintenance. We would apply the one-third reduction rule and the $674 would be reduced by $224.66 so your SSI benefit would be $449.34.

EXAMPLE D: SSI recipient lives in a house rent-free

Suppose you live in a house owned by your sister who allows you to live there rent-free. You receive $300 per month in Social Security benefits. You pay all the utilities and buy all the food. We determine that the house would rent for $900 per month if your sister rented it on the open market. The rent free house is counted as in-kind support and maintenance. Although the value of the rent free house is $900 per month, we count $244.66 as in-kind support and maintenance. We would determine your SSI benefit as follows: