For SSD Disability, Can Work From Different Quarters Be Combined?

My wife has multiple sclerosis and is in a wheelchair. She worked years ago for a number of years, then was a stay at home mom, and then went back to work. When she went back to work she was not able to work long enough to get enough quarters in to be eligible for SSDI (she's 56 years old). Can she combine the first part of her work history with her latter part? 

Unfortunately, no. Eligibility for Social Security disability is based on when the disabled person was last insured. The way to conceptualize this is to think of your coverage for Social Security disability benefits as something akin to car insurance. In the same way an auto accident must occur prior to your auto insurance expiration, your disability status must be established prior to the date you were last insured (DLI). 

Your DLI is based on your work earnings and the number of work credits you have in the last 40 quarters (the last ten years). You must have had 20 work credits in the last 40 quarters, or at least five years of work in the last ten years, to be eligible for SSDI. So, to answer your question, no, your wife cannot combine the first part of her work history with the latter part. 

Your DLI is the date after which you lose your eligibility. For instance, your wife is 56 years old. Say she worked from when she was 20 until she was 40, when she became a stay-at-home mom. Then, at age 50, she started to work again, and worked for four years before having to stop due to her MS. Your wife's DLI was when she was approximately 45. Since she worked only four years of the last ten, she did not become re-eligible for SSDI. The Social Security office can tell you what your wife's exact DLI is.

When you have a DLI issue (meaning your insurance has expired), the only way to qualify for SSDI is to prove that the disability commenced prior to the DLI (prior to your insurance expiring). Alternatively, your wife could apply for SSI (Supplemental Security Income), if your income and assets are low enough.