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Q: I have a business under my name but my spouse runs it. Can I have still apply for social security benefits?

A: The SSA defines the word disability as being unable to complete any substantial activity that will earn you a living. What is considered "substantial gainful activity" comes from the National Wage Index, which averages monthly wages across the board. The SSA considers an applicant to be working or employed at any time the that person "is the owner or part owner of a trade or business even if he or she does not actually work in the trade or business or receive any income from it."

Your business income may affect your social security benefits. The income you receive from your business, regardless of who runs it, may be considered substantial if it exceeds a determined SGA (or substantial gainful activity) level. This level is determined by comparing your business earnings to your pre disability earnings, and the earnings of a non disabled person engaged in the same business.

Q: If I pass away while I am in the Social Security Disability application process, where does my claim go?

A: The SSA states that when an individual who was or could have been eligible to receive social security benefits becomes deceased, surviving family member can request a Lump Sum Death Payment. This means that, if you were to die in the process of applying for social security benefits, your survivors may make a case for the social security benefits you may have earned after the waiting period. To do this, surviving family members need to prove that their deceased relative did or could have qualified for social security benefits in the month that they died.

Only certain close family members are eligible for these survivors social security benefits. When making the claim, the family will need to provide information and records about the deceaseds social security benefits eligibility and application (if there was one). They will also request evidence of the deceaseds disability beginning at 14 months before the date of death.

Q: What will happen to my social security benefits, once I am already on them, and I die?

A: A person who has worked and paid social security taxes may be eligible for survivors benefits upon their death. For ones family to be eligible for survivors benefits, up to 10 years of work is needed, depending on ones age. Survivors social security benefits can be paid to:

• A spouse, with full benefits when they reach retirement, or some benefits beginning at age 60 • A disabled spouse aged 50 or over • Unmarried children under 18 (or up to 19 if attending high school) • Children of any age disabled before the age of 22 • Dependent parents over 62 years of age.

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