[greenrobin]

i can't seem to understand what the SS Administration website is telling me.

and i have a question that i wonder if anyone here knows how to answer.

i got a phone call last week asking me if i wanted to apply for SSI for my 2 kids because one of their parents had applied for disability. the applying parent had listed my kids as his/her minor children. i gave the nice lady on the phone the abbreviated version of events--placement date, adoption date, CPS involvement--and told her we wanted nothing from this family. we have a permanent no contact order. she told me i could permanently waive the kids' rights to SSI and i said send me the papers.

when the papers arrived, there was a space for me to add any information that i wanted to. i added all that i told the woman including the five years that the kids have been with me, the 3 years since the adoption, where to obtain court records and my signature.

i wonder if i should include the fact that parent had a warrant out for their arrest for probation violation? my assumption is that the parent is back in state due to the location of the office that called me.

and if anyone is wondering, we changed the names on their SSNs less than 2 weeks after the adoption 3 yrs ago. their names came back with our last name linked to their SSNs--but when they called us, they used their old last names.

has a fraud been attempted? or is it okay to list kids you had who are no longer yours? would/could you change their SSNs now based on this?

and most importantly--am i overstressing about this?

[MaybeDays]

I think the kids first mom is trying to attempt fraud by listing her kids as dependents when they are clearly not. She is probably trying to strengthen her case of needing a higher amount of SSI due to having dependents to care for.

From what I understand, SSI is quite difficult to obtain. However, my FS's biomom, biogma and his "other" mom are all on SSI for mental health disability. They also had my FS on SSI due to all of his "alleged" medical needs.

When FS was close to RU 6 months ago, CW told mom that FS probably would not qualify for SSI anymore, since he had no medical needs while in care. (way to give her motivation to make sure he is "sick" when he goes back to her!)

I am very curious/concerned how this SSI lady was able to get your contact information simply from the kids first mom filling out an application. Does this woman have your address/phone number?

[OakShannon]

I agree with UTBrie. It sounds like fraud was attempted and the parent is hoping to get higher benefits. I can't imagine any legitimate reason to list the kids when the parent no longer retains custody or any parental rights.

I would be concerned that they had their new SSN, your names and the kids' former names all linked. That doesn't indicate that the first parent knows all of that information, but it would definitely concern me. I would want to know how they made that connection and if there is any possibility that any of that information could have been sent to the parent in response to the application.

As for reporting the parent for the outstanding warrant - that's a judgement call. I'm not sure I would. It would probably depend on how serious the offense was and how dangerous I thought the person might be.

[dizzilee]

I found out my son was eligible to receive disability benefits after I finalized adoption and changed his name with SS. Apparently his bio mom had been collecting the benefits on behalf of all the children since before the DCF case began. Once finalization happens apparently the benefits automatically transfer to the individual child. BTW if a child is eligible for these benefits I was told you can't change their SS#. I was willing to waive the benefits (a whopping $7.00 a month) in order to change his SS# because we had a history of someone wrongly claiming him on their taxes, but was told I couldn't do that. The benefits continue until he is 18 regardless of his status as a now adopted child. Not sure how that works if a bio parent applies after finalization though.

Long story short it could be that the parent has had disability benefits all along and SS is just catching up now. The wheels of bureaucracy can move verrrry slowly. I think I would want to check further and see if this is a new application and the bio parent is fraudulently claiming the children or if it is just a case of the system catching up. You may want to consider that your children could be owed a retroactive payment since their adoption date. My son received a lump sum payment for the time since his adoption and the date when I applied for the name change. It was just a little bit of extra money but it gave him a start for a bank account that we keep adding to along with the SSI payments.

As for how SS would link that information, if your children have the same SS# that would be all they need to make the connections and it could very well be that the parents had no active role in SS contacting you.

[Dickons]

I would not be concerned that SS# had links that employees of SS can see in their database - it actually proves they have done it correctly.

Birth certificate is linked to your SS# - when a adoption happens the original birth certificate is simply amended (not a new one created (my original b/c and amended have the same number)). If you changed the old SS# to a new SS# they have to link the new # to the old # because of the original links to the birth certificate. Otherwise it would be super easy to keep creating new SS#'s.

D

[jmd5294]

If I am reading OP correctly, names were changed, but original SSNs were kept.

I would try to get new numbers for your kids, if you can. I got new SSNs for both of my kids immediately after new birth certificates arrived. For my daughter, birthmom had already tried to claim her on her taxes, and had just filed for disability, so I knew I needed a new number for her. I absolutely did not want birthmom to have my child's SSN due to birthmom's history.

[greenrobin]

yes, only names were changed. The Social Security Administration has this rule that says if your child knows they were adopted then you cannot have a new number unless extenuating circumstances exist. At the time, none existed. Now? Who knows.

I don't even know if i could actually get anyone to talk to me--i would think that privacy laws would prevent someone from sharing information with me. The only conversation i was able to have so far was about my kids rights to apply. I am hoping that nothing more will happen. And to answer a previous question, yes, parent does have our address and phone number. And has used the phone number in direct violation of the no contact order and has also mailed things to the house on two occasions.

I am not fearful, just watchful.

[TemporaryMom]

Originally Posted by greenrobin

yes, only names were changed. The Social Security Administration has this rule that says if your child knows they were adopted then you cannot have a new number unless extenuating circumstances exist. At the time, none existed. Now? Who knows.

I don't even know if i could actually get anyone to talk to me--i would think that privacy laws would prevent someone from sharing information with me. The only conversation i was able to have so far was about my kids rights to apply. I am hoping that nothing more will happen. And to answer a previous question, yes, parent does have our address and phone number. And has used the phone number in direct violation of the no contact order and has also mailed things to the house on two occasions.

I am not fearful, just watchful.

I would think this now qualifies as extenuating circumstances.

[digmykids]

I would never permanently sign off on SSI. If something ever came up you would be kinda screwed.
I would go to the nearest SS office tomorrow and explain your situation and apply for new SS numbers for the kids.
I didn't read anything but the OP but from what you described it sounds like they are trying to fraudulently get SSI for those kids.
Make sure that the SS office knows. Sorry your dealing with that! Good luck and keep us updated.

[greenrobin]

The only signing off i am doing is for their access to birth family's SSI. If need be, they could still receive SSI under our names. The issue that i see is that this is a way for their parent to come back into their lives which is not a good plan.

[bjolly]

Actually, it doesn't sound to me like the parents attempted fraud. When a parent (any parent) gets SSI or SSDI, their child is entitled to benefits as their dependent. If you don't file for it, Social Security will contact the parent to let them know the child is entitled to it. My guess is that in this case, when the birth parent was granted benefits, the system recognized the children's SS#s as being the child of that person and triggered them to offer benefits to the child. They must have had on record that you are the guardian of the children, since they contacted you and not the bio parents about this. Just a glitch in the system where even though the legal relationship between the child and the parent is severed, their computer still saw your kids as that person's children. I doubt the parents even know the call was made.

[dizzilee]

Originally Posted by bjolly

Actually, it doesn't sound to me like the parents attempted fraud. When a parent (any parent) gets SSI or SSDI, their child is entitled to benefits as their dependent. If you don't file for it, Social Security will contact the parent to let them know the child is entitled to it. My guess is that in this case, when the birth parent was granted benefits, the system recognized the children's SS#s as being the child of that person and triggered them to offer benefits to the child. They must have had on record that you are the guardian of the children, since they contacted you and not the bio parents about this. Just a glitch in the system where even though the legal relationship between the child and the parent is severed, their computer still saw your kids as that person's children. I doubt the parents even know the call was made.

Exactly what I was thinking but bjolly explained it much better!