I was receiving SSDI when I got arrested. What happens to it while I’m incarcerated?

What to do if you know you will be incarcerated 30 days or more:

As soon as you know that you will be incarcerated for 30 or more days, you should report this fact to Social Security so that your benefits get suspended in a timely way. If you get any Social Security checks for any months during which you’re incarcerated, these will be treated as overpayments and you’ll have to repay them later. The amounts might get deducted from your future Social Security benefits, when you’re later released from incarceration.

If you were convicted and incarcerated for 30 or more days in a row, your SSDI benefits got suspended on the 31st day.[1711] You can’t receive SSDI benefits while incarcerated, but you’ll stay enrolled in the program. This means that if your spouse or children have been getting benefits as your dependents based on your SSDI eligibility, they’ll keep getting these benefits while you’re incarcerated, as long as they stay eligible.[1712] This also means that once you have official documents proving your release from incarceration, you can apply to restart your SSDI benefits (see PG. 485).[1713]

  1. 1711

    So, for example, if you were convicted and went to prison or jail on March 3, your benefits would stop on April 2. Arrested? What Happens to Your Benefits?, Bazelon Center, http://www.kitsaPGov.com/pubdef/Forms/LinkClick.Benefits.pdf. ↑

  2. 1712

    20 C.F.R. § 404.468(a); Benefits After Incarceration: What You Need to Know, Soc. Sec. Admin., http://www.ssa.gov/reentry/;, Finding the Key to Successful Transition from Jail or Prison (2009), Bazelon Center, www.bazelon.org/News-Publications/Publications/List/1/CategoryID/7/Level/a/ProductID/17.aspx?SortField=
    ProductNumber%2CProductNumber     ↑

  3. 1713

    What Prisoners Need to Know, Soc. Sec. Admin., http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10133.pdf; ↑