Originally Posted by Janke

I think you are confusing SSI retroactive rules with SSDI retroactive rules. SSDI for your child does not have a $2000 resource limit, does not require a special bank account with specific rules about how it is spent.

Also, if the contract with the lawyer limited his/her fee to $5300 max and it was paid from the retroactive SSDI, sounds like the max fee has been paid. It would be paid out of the other retroactive benefits if the max did not get paid from your benefits.

I am not going to comment about the rules about spending retroactive SSDI benefits for children. You can read a great deal about it at socialsecurity.gov. However, I have always found it a bit odd that parents want to be reimbursed for supporting their own children. Although benefits can be used to pay for a child's food and shelter support, I just don't personally believe that your child owes you money for anything you may have spent on them in the past. If you were working, you wouldn't be asking your child for money.

However, I also don't think a minor child should be living a better life than the parent can. So it is a hard question to answer.

Read the web site. Don't confuse programs. Call SSA. There are general guidelines, but you may not find the cut and dried answers you seek.