An application must be filed

The applicant must be disabled as defined by Social Security law

The applicant must be dependent upon an insured individual

If older than 22, the disability must have begun before age 22.

It is filed online at the Social Security website www.ssa.gov or at the local SSA office. Medical records must be provided, along with the documentation of the pertinent "vital statistics," such as birth certificate, citizenship papers, death certificate, proof of residency, etc.

A. If the dependent child is over age 18, the customary five-step analysis is applied

1. Is the applicant engaged in Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA)? If yes, the applicant is Not Disabled despite having severe medical impairments. SGA generally refers to physically or mentally active work for gain, and there are minimum earnings threshold which are adjusted in the regulations each year.
2. Does the applicant have a severe, medically-determinable impairment? If not, the applicant is Not Disabled. Objective medical evidence is necessary to establish severity and the type(s) of impairment.
3. Does the severe impairment meet or medically equal the criteria in the Listings of Impairments, which are very specific impairments contained in the regulations? If yes, the applicant is Disabled.
4. If not, what is the applicant's Residual Functional Capacity (RFC) for work? This refers to exertional capability and postural limitations. Does the individual have the RFC to perform his or her Past Relevant Work (PRW), which refers to the work s/he performed during the previous 15 years? This inquiry looks at the skills which the applicant has acquired and whether they are Transferrable to other work that individual has the capacity to perform. If not, does the individual have the RFC to perform other work that exists in significant numbers in the national economy? If not, the applicant is Disabled. If Yes, then the applicant is Not Disabled despite having certain severe medical impairments.
5. If the dependent child is under age 18, there is generally no "Past Relevant Work, so transferrability of skills is irrelevant. The applicant must prove that s/he lacks the "residual functional capacity" for any full range of "substantial gainful activity," whether that activity involves sitting at a work station for 2 hours at a time, extensive walking around, lifting and carrying, and the like.

Parent or grandparent or step-parent

Entitled to receive retirement benefits or

Entitled to receive disability benefits or

Has died, but was entitled to retirement or disability benefits at time of death.

Living with or supported by the insured individual at time of application

Receiving at least ½ of his support from the insured individual for at least one year prior to the date of application or prior to the death of the insured individual

The adoption must take place before the insured individual was eligible to receive disability or retirement benefits.

Dependent grandchild must begin living with the insured, eligible grandparent before age 18, and must live with that grandparent in the United States

Grandchild must be receiving at least ½ his support from the grandparent for one year before the date the grandparent became eligible to receive benefits or did having been eligible to receive benefits

If the claimant seeks to receive child's disability benefits based on a disability that began before age 22, it will be necessary to assemble objective medical documentation from the treating physicians, consulting or treating specialists, and other specialists involved in the child's life such as therapists, educators, vocational evaluators, special education instructors, etc. The Social Security Administration isrequired to defer to the opinions of treating specialists who have established doctor-patient relationships with the claimant and whose opinions are supported by the objective evidence in the charts.

There can come a time when child's disability benefits end. The child may continue to receive benefits until the child: