Ordinarily, benefits paid to a child of an SSD recipient end where the child reaches age 18, or age 19 if the child is enrolled as a full-time elementary or high school student.  

However, the Social Security Act provides for the payment of benefits to an older child of a wage earner who is receiving SSD or who died fully and currently insured for Social Security purposes.   The basic requirements for entitlement are:

• The child's disability must have started before age 22

• The child must be unmarried

The standards for proving disability for purposes of obtaining disabled adult children's benefits are the same as those for ordinary wage earners.  

Benefits paid to disabled adult children are based on the earnings record of the disabled or deceased wage earner, and are a percentage of the wage earner's basic benefit amount. Benefits terminate when the child's disability ends or when the child marries except that marriage does not terminate benefits if the child's spouse is over age 18 (or age 19 if a full-time elementary or high school student) and receives a separate Social Security benefit.