SSI spousal deeming counts support and alimony the ineligible spouse pays (20 CFR 416.1161(a)(10)) #10454

What

When an aged, blind or disabled claimant lives with a spouse who is not, SSI deems part of the spouse's income to the claimant. 20 CFR 416.1161(a)(10) leaves out the income the spouse uses to pay court-ordered support. ssi_earned_income_deemed_from_ineligible_spouse and ssi_unearned_income_deemed_from_ineligible_spouse start from the spouse's full ssi_earned_income and ssi_unearned_income and subtract only the ineligible-child allocations. Neither reads child_support_expense or alimony_expense. The payments therefore count toward the $497 deeming threshold and the couple computation.

Rule

• 416.1163(a): "We first determine how much earned and unearned income your ineligible spouse has, using the appropriate exclusions in § 416.1161(a)." The child allocations in (b) and the threshold test in (d) come after this step.
• 416.1161(a)(10): "We do not include any of the following types of income ... of an ineligible spouse or parent: ... (10) Income used to comply with the terms of court-ordered support, or support payments enforced under title IV-D of the Act".
• POMS SI 01320.400 A gives the same order: "first determine the amount of the ineligible spouse's earned and unearned income applying the appropriate exclusions in SI 01320.100". SI 01320.100 B.10 lists "Any income that is used to comply with the terms of court-ordered support or support payments enforced under title IV-D".
• POMS SI 01320.145 C.3: "Deduct the amount of support payments from the income of the ineligible spouse or parent before determining the amount of income to be deemed." Also: "Deduct the amount first from gross unearned income. Use any remaining balance to reduce gross earned income."
• Iowa's SSI-based deeming says the same (8-E p.12): "Court-ordered support or alimony payments. Deduct support payments from the income of the ineligible spouse or parent before determining the amount of income deemed. Deduct support payments first from unearned income. Any balance remaining then reduces gross earned income."

Worked households (2026)

The individual rate is $994 and the couple rate $1,491, so the threshold is $497. The claimant is aged 70 with Social Security of $500 a month (own countable income $480). The spouse is aged 60. Amounts are monthly.

• main, first row. $1,500 exceeds $497, so deeming applies. Couple countable income is ($500 − $20) + ($1,500 − $65) / 2 = $1,197.50, and SSI is $1,491 − $1,197.50 = $293.50.
• Rule, first row. The spouse has no unearned income, so the $1,200 comes off wages: $1,500 − $1,200 = $300, which does not exceed $497. Nothing is deemed, and SSI is $994 − $480 = $514.
• main, second row. $480 + ($3,000 − $65) / 2 = $1,947.50 exceeds $1,491, so SSI is $0.
• Rule, second row. $3,000 − $2,600 = $400 does not exceed $497, so SSI is $514.

PR #10141 leaves both rows unchanged. Its 416.1163(e)(2) rule pays the lesser of the deemed amount and $994 − $480 = $514: $293.50 in the first row, and $0 in the second ($1,491 − $1,947.50 is below zero).

Where

• policyengine_us/variables/gov/ssa/ssi/eligibility/income/deemed/from_ineligible_spouse/ssi_unearned_income_deemed_from_ineligible_spouse.py
• policyengine_us/variables/gov/ssa/ssi/eligibility/income/deemed/from_ineligible_spouse/ssi_earned_income_deemed_from_ineligible_spouse.py

The payments already exist as Person-level YEAR inputs:

• child_support_expense (variables/household/expense/child_support/), documented as "Legally mandated child support expenses".
• alimony_expense (variables/household/expense/person/).

Colorado's OAP (co_oap_deemed_income) and New Hampshire's SSP (nh_ssp_other_income_deductions) already read both inputs as court-ordered support.

Suggested fix

• In both variables, take the spouse's child_support_expense and alimony_expense off the spouse's gross unearned income first, then off gross earned income. Do this before the child allocations (416.1163(b)), so the reduced income feeds the threshold test and the couple computation.
• Keep the two input names in a parameter list, as gov.ssa.ssi.income.sources does for income.
• Deduct only from a deemor's income. 416.1161(a) and SI 01320.145 A cover an ineligible spouse or parent. A claimant's own support payments do not reduce the claimant's countable income.
• 416.1161(a)(10) also covers an ineligible parent. ssi_unearned_income_deemed_from_ineligible_parent has the same gap and could take the same deduction.
• PR Apply 416.1163(e)(2) to deemed SSI and identify SSI couples by marriage, not tax roles #10141 (reads the spouse's row) and PR Limit SSI spousal-deeming child allocations to the couple's co-resident children #10146 (adds monthly *_monthly versions) both rewrite these files, so the deduction should go on top of whichever merges first.
• Medicaid's senior and disabled deeming, msp_countable_income, the shared supplement helper _ssi_state_supplement.py, and the CT, KY, MD, MN and TX supplements read these variables, so their results change too.
• Add the two households above as YAML cases.

Which payments count

• SI 01320.145 B: "Support payments are payments made under a court order or enforced in compliance with a State agreement under title IV-D." Voluntary support does not qualify. child_support_expense is "legally mandated", which matches.
• alimony_expense has no court-order flag. 416.1121(b) defines alimony as "an allowance made by a court from the funds of one spouse to the other spouse in connection with a suit for separation or divorce", so treating all of it as court-ordered follows SSI's own definition. Colorado's OAP makes the same assumption.

Related

• PR Limit SSI spousal-deeming child allocations to the couple's co-resident children #10146 finds the child allocations through the couple's co-resident children instead of the claimant's tax unit. It also adds 416.1163(b)'s exception, "We do not allocate for ineligible children who are receiving public income-maintenance payments", as the input ssi_receives_public_income_maintenance. It does not deduct support.
• PR Deem SSI parental income from the child's co-resident parents, not the tax unit #10159 rebuilds parental deeming and does not deduct support either.
• SSI: deemed benefit is capped at the individual rate instead of the no-deeming amount, and couples are identified by tax roles #10138 and Fix SSI spousal deeming for in-kind support and for aged, blind or disabled spouses who are not eligible #10243 cover other deeming gaps. Neither covers 416.1161(a)(10).
• Apply the SSI one-third child support exclusion for children #10242 covers support a child receives (416.1124(c)(11)), a different rule.
• In PR 8017, Iowa's State Supplementary Assistance uses SSI's countable income, which includes the deemed amount, so it inherits the gap. Iowa's own manual (8-E p.12, above) deducts the payments.

Sources

• 20 CFR 416.1161(a)(10)
• 20 CFR 416.1163(a), (b), (d) and (e)(2)
• 20 CFR 416.1121(b)
• POMS SI 01320.145, Deeming - Income Used to Comply with a Court Order for Support
• POMS SI 01320.100, Items Not Included in Deeming - General
• POMS SI 01320.400, Deeming of Income from an Ineligible Spouse
• Iowa HHS Employees' Manual 8-E, Income

Found while reviewing PR 8017 (Iowa State Supplementary Assistance).