Hello- I am in Canada. My wife is American (dual citizen) and has just been diagnosed with Early-Onset Alzheimer's. Is there any person/ place I can call to see if she qualifies for early withdrawal of her Social Security? And If so, how do we proceed? I am her POA, but I am Canadian (we live in Canada) but just want to know where to begin. Thanks!
BTW my wife is 61
I am in a position to pass on some advice I received from a family friend. I was diagnosed 3yrs ago at the age of 57 with early onset ALZ. Our friends referred us to a lawyer they used who specializes in Social Security Disability. I had all of my test completed, MRI, Neuro-psych exam and complete neurology workup. The legal team interviewed me and said, yes, they would take my case, please bring copies of MRI results, and neuropsych exam for us to include in your file. They reviewed the Med Records and then we went through the process of filing the application. I had my first SSI payment back dated to the date I was diagnosed, 52 days after the application was submitted. The law firm received 25% payment of my first SSI payment as their fee. We had 2 children under 18 at the time I was diagnosed and once I received my first check, we had to go to the SS Office in our town and apply for a minors benefit, which they we received payable to my DW as she had to be named the Representative Payee for the kids benefits, two weeks after that application was submitted. The attorney we used had worked for the SS Administration and knew how everything needed to be done. The cost of the attorney's fee was quite reasonable and there was very little stress involved. Having your ducks lined up in advance, and having the attorney involved saved me a lot of wasted time, playing games with the Feds. Social Security Disability does not count against you in terms of early withdrawl penalties, your DW with simply be converted to the regular SS payment once you reach the age for full Social Security benefits. The amount you receive will be the same as the monthly payment for the SSI payment, subject to Cost of Living increases. A good lawyer will get you over the hurdles, with a lot less stress, and you can go about doing things you can enjoy together, without worries about money. I have moved on to another stage of this disease recently, and I'm beginning to be able to do less for myself.
My final bit of advice would be to get in touch with an Elder Law Attorney and settle your Legal Affairs, perhaps a Living Trust, Medical Directives, Pourover Will, Durable Power of Attorney, and anything else they may recommend that will help smooth the course for you to continue on your DW journey with dementia, and your affairs too will be settled. Finally, you need to go over the paperwork with your children, so they can understand, why certain things were done. I hope this is helpful to you. God Bless you both.
She maybe able to get Social Security Disability but it may take a year or more and she will be 62 by then. You need to apply about two months before her birthday and it will start the month of her birthday.
https://alzheimer.ca/en/Home/provincial-office-directory
heres a link https://www.ssa.gov/foreign/index.html
this page has contact info for people outside of the United States, links to apply for benefits online and a “benefits screening eligibility tool”. Your wife can draw social security at 62. That’s earliest social security retirement benefits can be drawn. And it will be discounted, she won’t get the full amount. What you really need to determine is if she can claim social security disability payments—she should be able to because early onset Alzheimer’s is on the list of “compassionate allowance” conditions. So she is probably eligible for social security disability even though she is not yet eligible for social security retirement.
what she will not be eligible for is SSI. If you leave the US for more than 30 days, you aren’t eligible for supplement security income.
I don't know what Canadian laws are in that regard.
But as my wife has said many times- knowing the governments of both countries- she says the US is much more complicated and byzantine. She is entitled to US benefits as she only left the US 11 yrs ago.
Here we have "SERVICE CANADA" offices everywhere where you can do everything from disability services, spousal benefits, Social Insurance, etc etc.
She no longer remembers how to do this kind of thing in the US and I suspect it's far more complicated, especially since we are living in Canada.
However, I will take the advice offered here and do what I can. Thank you!