340. Termination of Child's Insurance Benefits

340.1 When do child's insurance benefit payments end?

A child's insurance benefit payments end when:

1. The child dies; or

2. The child reaches age 18 and is neither disabled nor a full-time student (For a situation where a student may continue to be entitled to child's benefits, even though he or she has reached age 19, see §342); or

3. The child marries (however, if the child is a childhood disability beneficiary and the marriage is to another Social Security beneficiary, see §1852. If the marriage is either void or subsequently annulled, see §1853); or

4. The child's parent is no longer entitled to disability insurance benefits, unless the entitlement ended because the insured parent became entitled to retirement insurance benefits or died.

The beneficiary is not entitled to child's insurance benefits for the month in which any of the above events occur. However, in the case of a disabled child, the child's benefits end with the second month following the month in which he or she is no longer disabled.

340.2 Do benefits of an adopted child end if the adoption is annulled?

If a child is entitled to a child's benefit based on a legal adoption, the benefit ends if the adoption is annulled. The effective date of the terminations of benefits is the month in which the annulment becomes effective.

340.3 Do benefits of a stepchild end in the case of a divorce?

A stepchild's benefits end if the marriage between the worker and the stepchild's parent ends in a divorce. The effective date of the termination of benefits is the month after the divorce becomes final.

Last Revised: Jul. 1, 2004