Tap any paragraph to write a margin note. Your notes collect in the Desk below the text and file under cases with @. The side-by-side margin rail opens on a larger screen.

Code · CFR · Title 20 — Employees' Benefits · Part 404 — Federal Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (1950- ) · § 404.315

§ 404.315. Who is entitled to disability benefits?

258 words·~1 min read·/us/cfr/t20/s§ 404.315·

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

(a)General. You are entitled to disability benefits while disabled before attaining full retirement age as defined in § 404.409 if—
(1)You have enough social security earnings to be insured for disability, as described in § 404.130;
(2)You apply;
(3)You have a disability, as defined in § 404.1505, or you are not disabled, but you had a disability that ended within the 12-month period before the month you applied; and
(4)You have been disabled for 5 full consecutive months or no waiting period is required. The 5-month waiting period begins with a month in which you were both insured for disability and disabled. Your waiting period can begin no earlier than the 17th month before the month you apply—no matter how long you were disabled before then. No waiting period is required if:
(i)You were previously entitled to disability benefits or to a period of disability under § 404.320 any time within 5 years of the month you again became disabled; or
(ii)You have been medically determined to have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and we approved your application for disability insurance benefits on or after July 23, 2020.
(b)[Reserved] [44 FR 34481, June 15, 1979, as amended at 48 FR 21930, May 16, 1983; 51 FR 10616, Mar. 28, 1986; 51 FR 16166, May 1, 1986; 53 FR 43681, Oct. 28, 1988; 57 FR 30119, July 8, 1992; 60 FR 8145, Feb. 10, 1995; 68 FR 4704, Jan. 30, 2003; 86 FR 48021, Aug. 27, 2021; 91 FR 16829, Apr. 3, 2026]
Connections9 cite this
Citation graph
cites case law
§ 404.315
Who is entitled to disability benefits?
Fed. Reg.×9
Cites 0Cited by 9 across 1 source
★   the supreme law of the land   ★
Don't Tread on Me
E Pluribus Unum — out of many, one

"If you don't know your rights, you don't have any."

Marginalia · a citizen's law index
A research desk, not legal advice. Always read the cited source before relying on a summary.
Questions or an issue? support@self-law.org
disclaimerMarginalia is a research index, not a law firm. Nothing on this site is legal, tax, or financial advice and no attorney–client relationship is formed by using it. Statutes, regulations, and case law change; summaries, search results, AI output, and member posts may be incomplete, out of date, or wrong. Any interpretation drawn from material on this site should be validated by a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction before you act on it.