My husband receives SSI benefits for his 2 nieces that we are raising. However, he has another child and that mother is trying to have the SSI payment (for my girls) included as part of his income. Can she? Will the courts in Texas consider SSI benefits for two other children part of his salary?

My husband receives SSI benefits for his 2 nieces that we are raising.

How? As guardians,custodians or on mutual agreement?

SSI benefits aren't considered income for child support purposes in most states. These benefits are given based on need and not as a substitute for lost income.

Net income does NOT include:


Return of principal or capital;
Accounts receivable;
benefits paid in accordance with aid for families with dependent children (welfare payments); or
Income from a new spouse

See http://www.lanwt.org/txaccess/change_childsupport.asp

We have had temporary custody of the girls for 4 years. I have not looked at the paperwork for a while but I believe it is as guardians.

Texas Child Support
Child support guidelines base their percentages on "net resources." Net resources include more than just salary but also includes money earned in the form of commissions, overtime pay, retirement benefits, pensions, trust income, annuities, capital gains, social security benefits, and gifts.

Social Security Income (SSI) is considered to be a means-tested benefit. A government benefit is “means-tested” if the eligibility for the benefit or its amount is determined on the basis of the income or the resources of the recipient. Therefore, SSI benefits are not considered to be income to the recipient for the purposes of determining a child support award.
Supplemental Security Income

Rather than collecting money from employee income taxes, Social Security funds Supplemental Security Income through general tax revenues. These benefits are for supplementing your income and might pay for food, shelter and clothing. As such, they are not a substitute for lost income due to disability, but rather a supplement for any income you might currently receive. Because of this, the federal government views SSI as a type of welfare and is, therefore, ineligible for garnishment or CS calculation.

Social Security Disability (SSD) payments consist of the money which an employee has earned during his employment and which was paid for the employee's benefit into a common trust fund under the Social Security Act. The purpose of SSD payments is to replace income that is lost due to the employee's inability to work after becoming disabled. Therefore, SSD payments are considered as a substitute for earned income and constitute a non-means-tested benefit. SSD payments are therefore considered to be income under the child support guidelines.