Does your dad's business have a policy for paying office aides 18 months of paid sick leave or is this a policy just for his wife? Even though he may have paid the FICA/OASDI taxes, I am not so sure that it was legitimate if she didn't do any work for them.

And when she does file for SSDI, SSA will know about the earnings. They are the ones who sent the letter you are referring to. It is doubtful that you can get a copy of that letter from SSA, but SSA will know about the earnings since keeping track of earnings is one of the basic jobs of the Social Security Administration. And since the earnings record has tracked the earnings after onset of disability, SSA will be asking questions. Give honest answers.

Define "mess up" her SS retirement so I know how to answer. It is true that a person cannot get SS disability AND SS retirement at the same time. SSA will pay whichever is financially advantageous and when a person reaches full retirement age, there is no difference anyway.

Start a disability report online. She can also file a claim online, but I would suggest she have an actual interview with an employee, either in person or on the phone and I think in person gets you the most information since she can see the earnings information. You can attend the interview with her and so can your father.

She will need to bring her teacher's retirement award letter as well. There may be a different computation that applies to her called Windfall Elimination Provision.

It doesn't take two years for everyone to qualify for SSDI. 35% of the claims are approved at the initial level and can be as quick as six weeks, if the information provided is thorough from the beginning. Even if it takes two years to get approved, that is two years of benefits that she might not have gotten had she waited for full retirement age.

Read everything you think applies at socialsecurity.gov. Make a list of questions. Your parents are a little late in starting their retirement planning already. Start a disability report online. File a claim. This month. In person.