To determine an individual or family's SSI eligibility, the Social Security Administration (SSA) created the Benefits Eligibility Screening Tool (BEST). This is an online questionnaire, which takes a potential applicant only 5 to 10 minutes to complete. It does not ask for the applicant's name or social security number and does not access an individual's social security records. However, it does present questions about the applicant and his or her spouse's birth dates, date of marriage(s) and income information. All questions must be answered to determine eligibility.