News & Information

CCH® UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE — 7/1/08

SSA finalizes elimination of parent-to-child deeming of income from stepparents

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has finalized amendments that will eliminate consideration of the income and resources of a stepparent when an eligible child resides in the household with the stepparent but that child's natural or adoptive parent has permanently left the household. The regulatory change, which is effective June 16, 2008, will effectively expand nationwide a policy that is currently in place only for individuals who reside within the jurisdiction of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, i.e., the states of Connecticut, New York, and Vermont. That policy is set forth in Acquiescence Ruling 99-1(2), which acquiesced in the Second Circuit's decision in Florez on behalf of Wallace v. Callahan, 156 F3d 438 (1998). In conjunction with the rules change, the SSA is rescinding the acquiescence ruling, also effective on June 16.

What changes are being made?

The primary change being made by the amendments is not to deem income and resources from a stepparent when an eligible child lives with that stepparent but not with his or her natural or adoptive parent. (Regs. §416.1160(a)(2) and (d), §416.1165(g)(4), §416.1202(b)(1), and §416.1851(c).) Other changes being made are as follows:

    l Updating language to replace “Immigration and Naturalization Service” with “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services” due to a change in the agency's name. (Regs. §416.1160(d) and §416.1204.)

    l Revising the definition of “ineligible child” to remove the under-21 standard and replace it with a cross-reference to Reg. §404.1101, which uses an age limit of 22 so that there is no distinction between an “ineligible child” for deeming purposes and a “child” for all other purposes. (Reg. §416.1160(d).)

    l Revising the definition of “ineligible child” to clarify who is a “spouse” when determining who is an “ineligible child.” The definition of “ineligible child” will cross-reference Reg. §416.1806 defining how the SSA determines if an individual is married and who is a spouse. (Reg. §416.1160(d).)

    l Revising Reg. §416.1165(g)(3) to clarify how the SSA deems income to an eligible child when the ineligible parent dies. The changes to Reg. §416.1165(g)(3) clarify the SSA's longstanding policy, consistent with Reg. §416.1881(b), not to deem the income of the stepparent to the eligible child when the natural or adoptive parent dies or divorces the stepparent.

The full text of the SSA's notice of final rulemaking was published in the May 15, 2008, Federal Register (73 Fed. Reg. 28033). The notice rescinding Acquiescence Ruling 99-1(2) was published in the same issue of the Federal Register (73 Fed. Reg. 28181). Details of the proposed changes were published in the SSA's notice of proposed rulemaking, which appears in the December 21, 2007, Federal Register (72 Fed. Reg. 72641).

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